SPIELBERG, Austria — Thomas Preining (A/Manthey) won his home DTM race at the Red Bull Ring for the second time on Saturday after a flawless performance.
In the opening race in Styria, the Porsche factory driver crossed the finish line first after 38 laps, celebrating his ninth DTM victory. His compatriot Lucas Auer (Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf) completed the Austrian one-two finish on the Formula 1 circuit with second place.
“I couldn’t be happier; these are exactly the moments you dream of as a racing driver! Winning in front of my family and many friends feels simply fantastic. It was a very challenging race with very fast competition from Mercedes-AMG. Lucas Auer really put the pressure on at the end. I was all the more relieved to cross the finish line,” explained the Linz native, who was voted “Driver of the Day” powered by PME Legend by the fans. Maro Engel (Monaco/Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol) finished third in a race that remained exciting until the very end.
The highly anticipated start of the first DTM championship race was fiercely contested from the very first second. While polesitter Engel confidently defended his lead, Preining overtook Auer from third place. Behind this trio, Jules Gounon (FRA/Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter) followed, having overtaken Ben Dörr (Butzbach/Dörr Motorsport) to move into fourth.
Dörr’s McLaren 720S GT3 Evo crashed into the barrier shortly afterwards after contact with a competitor and he was forced to retire from the race.
The pit stops shuffled the order at the front: Gounon and Preining pitted for fresh Pirelli slicks as early as laps 14 and 15, respectively.
Two laps later, Engel headed for the pits but lost valuable seconds after problems with the tire change. This allowed Preining to take the lead ahead of Gounon. Auer, after his mandatory stop, slotted into third position, also ahead of Engel. On lap 33, a technical failure brought Gounon’s race to a sudden halt.
This presented an opportunity for Auer, who, after a safety car period, was within striking distance of the leaders. However, Preining remained composed and prevented his compatriot from closing the gap. The 27-year-old crossed the finish line first behind the safety car after Kelvin van der Linde (ZA) coasted to a stop in his BMW M4 GT3 Evo.
The places behind Preining were occupied by Auer, Engel and Tom Kalender (Hamm/Sieg/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf), who improved from tenth to fourth place after a strong race.
Marco Wittmann (Fürth/Schubert Motorsport) was the best-placed BMW driver, finishing fifth. Timo Glock (Kreuzlingen/Dörr Motorsport) piloted the second McLaren 720S GT3 Evo to sixth position. Arjun Maini (IND/HRT Ford Racing) gained nine places to finish seventh.
Matteo Cairoli (I/Emil Frey Racing) completed his first DTM race in the Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo in eighth place, ahead of Porsche driver Ricardo Feller (CH/Manthey). Nicki Thiim (DK/Comtoyou Racing) rounded out the top 10.
