Race report

DTM Hockenheim: Thomas Preining dominates as Lucas Auer retains points lead

Preining took a commanding victory in the first race at the DTM final round at Hockenheim, while Auer finished 12th to keep his points lead ahead of the title-decider

Thomas Preining has taken a dominant victory by 16 seconds in the first race of the DTM final round at Hockenheim, while Lucas Auer has held on the points lead going into the title-decider finale.

The Manthey Porsche driver started Saturday’s race from third on the grid and moved into the lead on lap eight, going on to take an unchallenged victory ahead of Land Audi’s Ricardo Feller.

"Yes, this was obviously a very good day," grinned Preining when speaking to ran.de. "I’m more than happy with it, but the job isn’t done yet. If we want to become champions, we need another performance like this tomorrow. So we’ll get the podium and press conference done, and then keep working."

Manthey Porsche’s Morris Schuring celebrated his first DTM podium in third, as the Dutchman even launched a last-lap attack on Feller, but couldn’t find a way past the Audi driver.

Auer, who crashed in qualifying due to a slow puncture, managed to limit the damage in the race by taking 12th place and thus retained his lead in the overall standings.

Heavy rain forced the race start to be delayed by 25 minutes, with the field then set off behind the safety car.

Ricardo Feller, Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3

Photo by: ADAC Motorsport

When green-flag racing behind, polesitter Ben Green lost the lead at the hairpin which allowed team-mate Jack Aitken and Preining to slip past. Title contender Jordan Pepper also made a mistake, spinning and crashing his Grasser Lamborghini into the wall.

At the front, Preining began closing in on Aitken, putting the Emil Frey Ferrari driver under pressure. On lap eight, the 2023 DTM champion made the decisive move, overtaking the Briton and taking the lead.

After the pitstops, Aitken began to fade in the closing stages: first Feller moved up into second, then Schuring demoted the Briton from the podium. Maro Engel and Ayhancan Guven also passed the Ferrari driver, leaving Aitken sixth at the flag.

In addition to Pepper, who failed to score after his crash, two other title contenders also went home empty-handed on Saturday. Marco Wittmann had to make a second pitstop after a collision with Mirko Bortolotti, dropping out of the points.

Preining’s victory has moved him up to second in the standings, just three points behind Auer, with Rast in third. The top seven drivers are separated by just 13 points heading into the title decider on Sunday.

DTM Hockenheim - Race 1 results

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Car	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points
1	T. Preining Manthey EMA	91	Porsche 911 GT3 R	32	1:00'51.351			25
2	R. Feller Land-Motorsport	29	Audi R8 LMS Evo II	32	+16.899 1:01'08.250	16.899		20
3	M. Schuring Manthey Junior Team	92	Porsche 911 GT3 R	32	+17.009 1:01'08.360	0.110		16
4	M. Engel Mercedes-AMG Team Winward	24	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	32	+21.871 1:01'13.222	4.862		13
5	A. Güven Manthey EMA	90	Porsche 911 GT3 R	32	+22.522 1:01'13.873	0.651		11
6	J. Aitken Emil Frey Racing	14	Ferrari 296 GT3	32	+23.339 1:01'14.690	0.817		10
7	R. Rast Schubert Motorsport	33	BMW M4 GT3 Evo	32	+31.741 1:01'23.092	8.402		9
8	N. Thiim Abt Sportsline	2	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	32	+36.647 1:01'27.998	4.906		8
9	L. Engstler TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT	19	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	32	+41.156 1:01'32.507	4.509		7
10	B. Green Emil Frey Racing	10	Ferrari 296 GT3	32	+48.121 1:01'39.472	6.965		6
11	M. Bortolotti Abt Sportsline	1	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	32	+48.597 1:01'39.948	0.476		5
12	L. Auer Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf	22	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	32	+49.641 1:01'40.992	1.044		4
13	G. Magnus Comtoyou Racing	7	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	32	+51.896 1:01'43.247	2.255		3
14	A. Maini HRT Ford Performance	36	Ford Mustang GT3	32	+52.584 1:01'43.935	0.688		2
15	T. Kalender Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf	84	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	32	+54.015 1:01'45.366	1.431		1
16	P. Maximilian Paul Motorsport	71	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	32	+54.603 1:01'45.954	0.588
17	F. Scherer HRT Ford Performance	64	Ford Mustang GT3	32	+1'11.645 1:02'02.996	17.042
18	M. Wittmann Schubert Motorsport	11	BMW M4 GT3 Evo	32	+1'13.017 1:02'04.368	1.372
19	T. Vermeulen Emil Frey Racing	69	Ferrari 296 GT3	32	+1'13.957 1:02'05.308	0.940
20	B. Dörr Dörr Motorsport	25	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	31	1 Lap
21	N. Baert Comtoyou Racing	8	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	31	1 Lap
dnf	T. Glock Dörr Motorsport	16	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	24	8 Laps
dnf	J. Gounon Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter	48	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	20	12 Laps
dnf	J. Pepper TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT	63	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	4	28 Laps
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