Timo Scheider topped the final DTM free practice session at Oschersleben on Saturday morning.

The two-time champion took the top spot with three minutes remaining in the session, ending a tight contest that developed between Audi and Mercedes in the closing stages.

It was Mercedes that started the flurry of activity. Its three title contenders, Bruno Spengler, Gary Paffett and Paul di Resta, took the top three spots when they all did short runs with 25 minutes to go.

Paffett then knocked Spengler back when he did a second flying lap, but they were all eclipsed by the 2008 Audi of Miguel Molina 13 minutes from the end.

Mattias Ekstrom also joined the fray but could not quite go quickest, while di Resta later had another go as well but just missed out.

Martin Tomczyk appeared to have sealed top spot when he found a lot of time with eight minutes left. However, he was eventually pushed down to third by two-time Oschersleben winners Scheider and Paffett.

Molina, di Resta and Ekstrom had to settle for completing the top six, and behind them Alexandre Premat pulled himself up from the bottom end of the field to take seventh.

Spengler's earlier pace-setting effort was good enough for eighth by the end, while Ralf Schumacher and Mike Rockenfeller completed the top 10.

Pos  Driver             Car       Time       Gap
 1.  Timo Scheider      Audi      1m21.163s
 2.  Gary Paffett       Mercedes  1m21.389s  + 0.226s
 3.  Martin Tomczyk     Audi      1m21.419s  + 0.256s
 4.  Miguel Molina      Audi      1m21.535s  + 0.372s
 5.  Paul di Resta      Mercedes  1m21.537s  + 0.374s
 6.  Mattias Ekstrom    Audi      1m21.805s  + 0.642s
 7.  Alexandre Premat   Audi      1m21.823s  + 0.660s
 8.  Bruno Spengler     Mercedes  1m21.826s  + 0.663s
 9.  Ralf Schumacher    Mercedes  1m21.998s  + 0.835s
10.  Mike Rockenfeller  Audi      1m22.017s  + 0.854s
11.  Oliver Jarvis      Audi      1m22.097s  + 0.934s
12.  Maro Engel         Mercedes  1m22.125s  + 0.962s
13.  Markus Winkelhock  Audi      1m22.174s  + 1.011s
14.  Jamie Green        Mercedes  1m22.182s  + 1.019s
15.  David Coulthard    Mercedes  1m22.187s  + 1.024s
16.  Susie Stoddart     Mercedes  1m22.650s  + 1.487s
17.  Cong Fu Cheng      Mercedes  1m22.947s  + 1.784s
18.  Katherine Legge    Audi      1m23.667s  + 2.504s