HOCKENHEIM, Germany — The battle for the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters championship comes down to a pair of races this weekend at the world-famous Hockenheimring.
A trio of drivers will battle it out for the title. In pole position is championship leader Thomas Preining in a Porsche 911 GT3 R, who comes into the deciding two races with a 10-point lead. Preining and his two closest rivals, Mirko Bortolotti in a Lamborghini and Audi driver Ricardo Feller, are all fighting for their first DTM title.
No fewer than four outfits could still win the Team competition. Manthey EMA, Preining’s team, tops the table.
Porsche leads the manufacturer competition ahead of the final two races.
The Hockenheimring hosts races 15 and 16 of the season on its 4,574-meter, 17-turn course.
Last year’s winners at the track were Lucas Auer and Marco Wittman.
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Championship leader Preining comes into the final two races as the slight favorite, with a lead of 10 points. However, with a maximum 56 points still up for grabs, that margin will by no means be reassuring.
“The title has been the main goal since the opening race of the season,” says Preining. The Porsche works driver from Manthey EMA has shown all year that he always has an eye on his opposition and can react flexibly to different race situations.
“In the DTM, you cannot be perfect in every race — the series is too fiercely-competitive for that,” Preining said. “The key is to always make maximum use of your potential and pick up as many points as possible. We have done a superb job of that so far.”
His fiercest rival, Bortolotti, must go on the offensive from the outset and aim for the podium if he is to increase the pressure on the man at the top of the table. A top-15 finish is of little use, as from fifth place downward there is just one point difference between each position.
Qualifying will be particularly important for the 33-year-old and the SSR Performance team: whenever Bortolotti has started from the front row of the grid in his Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2, he has finished first or second.
The third of the title contenders, Ricardo Feller, comes into the final two races as something of an outsider and can thus afford to come out swinging. The 23-year-old, currently third in the table, has scored points in every race so far and produced several highlights this season.
Whether driving like a man possessed to clinch last-second pole positions in qualifying, fierce battles with Bortolotti at the DEKRA Lausitzring, or his fightback from 26th to third place at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, the Swiss is the man for special moments.
As such, the Audi driver from Abt Sportsline — the most successful active team in the DTM — is still a force to be reckoned with, despite trailing Preining by 31 points.
Reigning champion Sheldon van der Linde from Schubert Motorsport comes into the final event of the season in fourth place and with nothing more than a mathematical chance of retaining his title. The 52-point gap to Preining is simply too big.
However, the BMW works driver will be doing everything in his power to end the season with a top performance. The same can be said of team-mate and fifth-placed driver René Rast (Bregenz), who claimed his first success for BMW at the Red Bull Ring. The three-time DTM champion has five wins to his name in Hockenheim, and the 36-year-old is more than capable of making it half a dozen this weekend.
Marco Wittmann is also one of the favorites in Hockenheim, where the BMW driver climbed onto the top step of the podium for the fourth time in his career last year.
With its varied layout, the Hockenheimring is a highlight for drivers and fans. Fast straights and corners alternate with slow passages and hairpins. While top speeds are achieved in the Parabolika, the DTM cars require optimal grip in the tight Motodrom section.
The key is to find the right set-up for these different challenges. Spectators can follow the action perfectly from the grandstands, which offer great views of large stretches of the circuit.
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