Timo Scheider took his first DTM pole position of the season in commanding fashion at Zandvoort on Saturday.
The reigning champion's lap in the Q4 pole shootout was nearly seven tenths of a second clear of Gary Paffett, who will join Scheider on the front row.
Paffett lost time when he locked up at the first corner on his hot lap and last year's winner was unable to claw it back over the rest of the lap.
Paul di Resta took third in his Mercedes. The Scot had completed a one-two with Paffett in Q3, but both were unable to maintain their advantage over Scheider in the final segment.
The Q4 lineup was completed by the 2008-spec Audi of rookie Miguel Molina, who shone in every segment of qualifying. Molina's place in Q4 came at the expense of some high profile names. Mattias Ekstrom, who had topped the last free practice session on Saturday by a big margin, could only manage fifth fastest. Championship leader Bruno Spengler suffered as well, and he will line up seventh, just behind last year's polesitter Oliver Jarvis.
Ralf Schumacher completed the top eight, as Mercedes allayed fears that Audi would dominate this weekend by getting all four of its 2009-spec cars onto the first four rows of the grid.