Photo: Paul Davies Photography
The DAMS team was on top in the first of Friday’s Formula Renault 3.5 sessions ahead of the race weekend at the Nurburgring, with Dean Stoneman leading Nyck de Vries.
The pair had fought for the top spot throughout the session and took charge with about 20 minutes remaining.
In the final couple of minutes they were shuffled back by a stream of improvements from other drivers, including Tio Ellinas going quickest.
De Vries reclaimed top spot after the chequered flag, but the McLaren protege was then bettered by his Red Bull-backed team-mate by 0.117 seconds.
Ellinas, who unlike the DAMS pairing now has a maiden FR3.5 win under his belt after Silverstone last weekend, ended up two tenths off the pace in third.
Tom Dillmann and championship leader Oliver Rowland took fourth and fifth with late improvements ahead of Alfonso Celis, who had separated the DAMS duo with a strong lap with minutes remaining.
Gustav Malja was seventh in front Rowland’s title rival Matthieu Vaxiviere, with the Arden pairing of Nicholas Latifi and Egor Orudzhev completing the top 10.
New Pons drivers Yu Kanamaru and Rene Binder took 15th and 17th respectively.
?Session results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Dean Stoneman | DAMS | 1:42.369 | 18 | |
| 2 | Nyck de Vries | DAMS | 1:42.486 | 0.117 | 18 |
| 3 | Tio Ellinas | Strakka Racing | 1:42.570 | 0.201 | 18 |
| 4 | Tom Dillmann | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1:42.609 | 0.240 | 18 |
| 5 | Oliver Rowland | Fortec Motorsports | 1:42.665 | 0.296 | 15 |
| 6 | Alfonso Celis | AVF | 1:42.667 | 0.298 | 19 |
| 7 | Gustav Malja | Strakka Racing | 1:42.929 | 0.560 | 17 |
| 8 | Matthieu Vaxiviere | Lotus | 1:43.115 | 0.746 | 15 |
| 9 | Nicholas Latifi | Arden Motorsport | 1:43.134 | 0.765 | 17 |
| 10 | Egor Orudzhev | Arden Motorsport | 1:43.138 | 0.769 | 19 |
| 11 | Beitske Visser | AVF | 1:43.223 | 0.854 | 21 |
| 12 | Pietro Fantin | International Draco Racing | 1:43.324 | 0.955 | 18 |
| 13 | Jazeman Jaafar | Fortec Motorsports | 1:43.431 | 1.062 | 17 |
| 14 | Bruno Bonifacio | International Draco Racing | 1:43.594 | 1.225 | 20 |
| 15 | Yu Kanamaru | Pons Racing | 1:44.535 | 2.166 | 15 |
| 16 | Aurelien Panis | Tech 1 Racing | 1:44.562 | 2.193 | 18 |
| 17 | Rene Binder | Pons Racing | 1:44.593 | 2.224 | 16 |
| 18 | Marlon Stockinger | Lotus | 1:44.706 | 2.337 | 16 |
| 19 | Roy Nissany | Tech 1 Racing | 1:44.906 | 2.537 | 14 |
| 20 | Sean Gelael | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1:45.146 | 2.777 | 4 |