Dani Juncadella secured his 2nd DTM pole position of the 2018 season with a stellar late effort to dislodge Lucas Auer to ensure an all-Mercedes front row at Brands Hatch.
Reigning champion Rene Rast took 3rd on the grid in his Audi R5 DTM, while Philip Eng placed his BMW 4th bringing all three manufacturers to the front two rows.
The session had initially been dominated by Auer and Augusto Farfus (BMW), with the pair swapping times early on, before the Austrian solidified his position at the top of the timing sheets.
It was looking secure for Auer, until Juncadella jumped to the top of the order with a best of 1:18.069 in the final minutes. Auer did improve as the seconds ticked down, but he fell just under one-tenth short of the peak.
Rast also managed a quick late effort with a 1:18.255, edging Eng by two-thousandths of-a-second.
After initially looking very quick, Farfus fell to 5th by the time the chequered flag came down, squeezing ahead of championship leader Gary Paffett (Mercedes). It was a solid recovery for Paffett, who suffered an early off and scrub against the barriers at Paddock Hill Bend.
Timo Glock qualified 7th after denying himself a final run by spinning off at Surtees. Edo Mortara (Mercedes), Marco Wittmann (BMW) and Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes) rounded out the top ten, pipping Audi’s Robin Frijns who looked quick in the early minutes of qualifying.
Championship challenger Paul di Resta could only mange 12th in his Mercedes C63, with a time only half-a-second shy of pole. Audi trio Nico Müller, Loïc Duval and Mike Rockenfeller secured positions 13th-15th, while BMW drivers took two of the final three positions on the grid, as Joel Eriksson qualified 16th and Bruno Spengler took 18th).
Former champion Jamie Green (Audi) recorded the a best time good enough for 17th on the grid as his miserable season continues.
