Thomas Preining, the newly-crowned champion of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) series, will make his IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship debut in this month’s 62nd annual Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.
Preining will drive for Andretti Motorsports in their new #43 Porsche 911 GT3 R, partnering third-generation driver Jarett Andretti and co-drivers Gabby Chaves and Scott Hargrove.
“I’m really excited to join the team for the Rolex 24, it’s always been a dream of mine to fight for the win in this legendary race,” Preining said of his imminent race debut at Daytona.
“Doing that with such an iconic team just makes it even more special for me. Since the car is new for the team, I will do my best to help as much as I can and try to make use of my experience in a good way. In general, all is positive and it will be a great way to start the new season on a strong note.”
The 25-year-old Austrian driver took three wins and eight podiums in 16 races last year to become Porsche’s first DTM champion. Preining was also part of the Manthey EMA team that finished second overall in last year’s Bathurst 12 Hour race, and recently tested the Porsche 963 prototype during the FIA World Endurance Championship rookie test in Bahrain.
Preining’s endurance racing CV also includes two starts in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with a best finish of eighth in GTE Am in 2019 – and a European Le Mans Series victory at Silverstone in the same year.
Andretti, the son of 1989 Daytona 24h champion John Andretti and a past SRO GT4 America class champion in his own right, will run the full season alongside 2015 IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year Chaves. 2018 Pirelli World Challenge Champion Hargrove will run the five-race Michelin Endurance Cup including Daytona.
In a stroke of irony, this announcement coupled with Ritomo Miyata’s one-off appearance for Vasser Sullivan means that the reigning DTM and SUPER GT GT500 champions will race together in the same category – for the first time since the only running of the SUPER GT x DTM Dream Race at Fuji in 2019!
Feature image © ADAC
