23-year-old Marschall got very close to his first pole just two weeks ago but ultimately missed out by a mere 0.002 seconds. However, he sealed the deal at Hockenheim after going out shortly before the end of the 30-minute session to clock a final best time of 1:38.469 minutes for HCB-Rutronik Racing, giving team-mate Carrie Schreiner the perfect present to celebrate her 21st birthday.

"Wow! I never expected to be on pole," said Marschall. "I feel comfortable in the car here at Hockenheim, but it was still unexpected. Many thanks to the team for giving me a terrific car. I feel great, Carrie too - hopefully, we can achieve a good result today."

Lamborghini driver Mirko Bortolotti, who shares the Huracán GT3 Evo belonging to Orange1 by GRT Grasser with Christian Engelhart, was beaten by 0.028 seconds. Third place went to the Mercedes AMG of Indy Dontje and Maximilian Götz (Mann-Filter Team HTP), who were another 26 thousandths of a second slower.

Championship leaders Patric Niederhauser and Kevin van der Linde were pleased with their qualifying. Niederhauser secured fourth place on the grid for the two of them in the Audi prepared by HCB-Rutronik Racing. Qualifying did not go well, though, for their toughest rivals in the championship, Markus Pommer and Marvin Kirchhöfer from Team Callaway Competition, who only came in 16th. "We promised ourselves more. The car felt good, but conditions were tricky," said Pommer. "I hit traffic on my hot laps and struggled a bit. The tyres were then no longer at their best once the circuit was free again. I also made a small mistake, but I'm not worried about the race. Our car is pretty quick down the straights. We started from last place at the Nürburgring and overtook half the field."

Jimmy Eriksson and Daniel Keilwitz in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 from Team Zakspeed BKK Mobil Oil Racing completed the Top Five in Saturday's race against the clock.