Moscow DTM: BMW's Marco Wittmann takes first pole of title defence

Wittmann set the pace during Friday's practice session and following a damp Saturday morning returned to the top of the times in the dry 20-minute shootout.

The German set his time of 1m28.810s with just under 30 seconds left on the clock to take his fifth career DTM pole.

"It was fantastic," Wittmann said. "I felt good on the first run but made the odd mistake here and there.

"Because of this, I knew I could go even faster with the second set of tyres, and that was the case.

"We made a slight change to the tyre pressure for the second set, which proved to be the right step.

"The lap was perfect. I felt very comfortable. It is great to be at the very front and make a good start to the weekend."

Pascal Wehrlein will join him on the front row, the Mercedes driver improving after the chequered flag to finish the session 0.169 seconds behind Wittmann.

Audi's Jamie Green gave all three brands a driver in the top three, going top momentarily before Wittmann's effort in the closing stages.

The trio ensured Timo Glock wouldn't claim a maiden DTM pole.

The BMW driver was atop the times as the second and final runs began with four minutes remaining, but couldn't improve on his 1m29.003s.

Rookie Tom Blomqvist was fifth, his best qualifying result in the DTM, ahead of Mattias Ekstrom and Bruno Spengler, who made it four BMWs in the top seven.

Miguel Molina, Daniel Juncadella and Nico Muller rounded out the top 10, while Formula 3 European Championship leader Antonio Giovinazzi will start his first DTM race from 19th on the grid.

QUALIFYING TIMES: