Having already topped the two practice sessions on Friday, Engel was also unbeaten in the 20-minute pole shootout on Saturday morning as he clinched the top spot with a time of 1m32.585s.
Porsche’s Dennis Olsen first broke Engel’s practice benchmark, setting a time of 1m33.279s with 10 minutes to go as Manthey EMA elected to complete its flying laps early on.
Olsen’s team-mate Thomas Preining then went on top with a 1m33.075s, but it wasn’t until the final three minutes of the session that a driver broke the 1m33s barrier, with Engel's team-mate Jusuf Owega lapping the circuit in 1m32.945s.
However, Owega’s reign on top turned out to be short-lived, with Engel finding another four tenths to snatch pole. His time would not be beaten, securing the 37-year-old his first pole since the Red Bull Ring round last year and the first pole for his Landgraf team since its switch from ADAC GT Masters.
Reigning champion van der Linde provisionally qualified second in his M4 GT3 with a time that was just 0.030s down on Engel, but he remains under investigation for impeding the German in qualifying.
Second place nevertheless respected a marked turnaround for van der Linde and BMW after the South African qualified 19th and 15th for the two races at Oschersleben.
Two-time DTM champion Marco Wittmann validated the improved pace of the BMW by qualifying third in his Project 1-run M4, albeit 0.297s down on Engel’s chart-topping time.
Works Lamborghini driver Franck Perera ended up just 0.001s adrift of Wittmann in fourth for SSR Performance.
Source: Autosport