Thomas Preening produced a brilliant performance at Oschersleben to take his second win of the DTM season with a lights-to-flag victory that sent a clear message to his rivals. The reigning champion from Mante-Porsche started from pole and never relinquished control, skillfully navigating a decisive pit-stop phase to secure his victory by a margin of 1.601 seconds over Luca Engstler (Abt-Lamborghini).
Preening’s immaculate drive began with an impeccable launch off the line, which immediately relieved the early pressure as Maro Engel (Winward-Mercedes) overtook Engstler to move into second place. The Porsche driver set up an early gap, but Engel made it back, setting the stage for a strategic display during the mandatory pit stop after lap 21. Manthey’s accuracy in the pit lane contrasted sharply with Winward’s misfortune, as Engel lost vital seconds due to a jammed left-front wheel, giving Engstler second place.
Reflecting on his impressive performance, Preuning praised his team’s efforts: “Overall a perfect day, definitely starting from pole and then leading the whole race. Huge,” he told ran.de. “The car was really perfect from the first lap in practice, and the strategy, the pit stops, everything came together today. I felt comfortable from the start, so a big thank you to the team and I’m naturally hopeful that we can build on this.”
Engel was ultimately forced to settle for third place, acknowledging the missed opportunity: “Of course, second place was clearly possible,” he admitted to ran.de, expressing his disappointment at the costly stoppage. “We have to look at it and analyze what happened there. But by the end it was a good race, a good day and a lot of points.”
The top five was rounded out by Lucas Auer (Landgraf–Mercedes), who attacked Mirko Bortolotti (Grasser–Lamborghini) in the closing laps. Arjun Maini (HRT–Ford) finished sixth, while Kelvin van der Linde (Schubert–BMW) took seventh, an impressive comeback after his heavy Norisring crash. Timo Glock (Door-McLaren) finished eighth, followed by Thierry Vermeulen (Emile-Frey-Ferrari) and Ricardo Feller (Manthey-Porsche) in ninth and tenth respectively.
The race was hampered by retirements, including that of Ben Doré (Doré–McLaren), whose opening-lap clash with Jules Gounon (Winward–Mercedes) resulted in terminal damage. Gounon’s race also ended prematurely, as did Marco Wittmann (Schubert–BMW) due to a persistent puncture and Finn Wibelhaus (HRT–Ford) due to an apparent cockpit fire. Nicolas Bart (Comtoeu–Aston–Martin) also crashed out early with suspected technical problems.
The dynamics of the championship changed considerably as Nicki Thiim (Comtoeu–Aston–Martin), hampered by BOP adjustments and success from the Norisring victory, could only finish twelfth. Engel now tops the standings with 125 points after nine of sixteen races, a six-point lead over Auer (119), with Thiem only one point behind (118). Preening’s emphatic win moves him up to fourth overall with 98 points, although he is 27 points off the lead.
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