Mercedes continue their strong form at the Circuit Park Zandvoort to once again be quickest with Pascal Wehrlein.
However it was not an as dominate performance as the brand has had so far this weekend, with the Audis of Jamie Green and René Rast second and third.
It was a disappointing session for Dutch driver Robin Frijns in his home race, as he caused an early slow zone after stopping on track on his out lap.
Mercedes took this as an opportunity for a practice pitstop for Lucas Auer but had an issue on the rear right hand side tyre.
When the running got back underway with the fastest time constantly changing hands as the drivers settled into the track.
It was not long until there was another slow zone after Joel Eriksson was in the gravel having run wide and tapped the barrier.
Loïc Duval went quickest for Audi but was displaced by the BMW of Marco Wittmann before Rast followed suit.
Wittmann found himself relegated to fourth after Wehrlein and Paul di Resta slotted into second and third.
On his next lap di Resta went quickest but lost a lot of time in the middle sector.
Audi’s Nico Müller then bettered the time of di Resta before heading into the pits.
With around seven minutes left on the session most drivers were in the pits -with only Mike Rockenfeller and Philipp Eng on track before too joining the others in the pitlane.
As action resumed, Rast immediately went fastest for Audi, as Müller remained in the pits before joining the action with three minutes left.
Rast’s advantage did not last long with Green and then ultimately Wehrlein going faster.
The session ended with Wehrlein on top for Mercedes.
Green headed an Audi quartet with Rast, Müller and Duval for the Ingolstadt brand to take 2-3-4-5.
Di Resta and yesterday’s race winner Paffett were sixth and seventh for Mercedes.
The lone BMW in top ten was Farfus as Juncadella and Mortara rounded off the top ten for Mercedes.
After an electrical issue caused him to stop on track, Frijns did not set a time.
The next on track action is the second qualifying session of the weekend which takes place at 11.20 ahead of Race 2 at 13.30.
2018 DTM Series Results: Zandvoort – Free Practice 3
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