Manthey EMA’s Thomas Preining scored his first DTM win of the 2023 season today at the Norisring. En route to victory, he produced two daring overtakes in his #91 Porsche 911 GT3 R, regaining his place at the top of the overall standings in the process.
The first DTM win for the “Grello” Porsche makes it six different winners in six DTM races so far this season.
“It was crazily eventful from start to finish, which demands the utmost concentration. With my overtaking manoeuvre, I braked late ahead of the hairpin and was then able to squeeze through the little gap on the inside and pass René Rast. It feels great to win a battle against such a fantastic racing driver as him,” said the 24-year-old.
René Rast came home second in his Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3, 2.181 seconds behind Preining. His teammate Sheldon van der Linde completed the podium in third.
Overall, it was an entertaining race for the fans that packed the grandstands today.
In the first half of the race, which took place in scorching heat around midday, a victory did not look likely for Preining, who lost two positions after the start and dropped back to fourth.
Pole-sitter Rast was controlling the race from the front, followed by Sheldon van der Linde and Team Bernhard’s Ayhancan Güven. A fast pit stop allowed Preining to climb one place into third, while Güven fell back after receiving a penalty.
Then came Preining’s big moment: he overtook Sheldon van der Linde in the Grundig hairpin on lap 38, before repeating the manoeuvre at the same point to pass Rast and take the lead on lap 46. It was a brave move, which saw Preining make contact with Rast’s BMW on the way through.
The Porsche works driver then held station and went on to take the chequered flag after 72 laps of racing, followed by the two BMWs.
“When you start from the very front, you obviously want to win,” admitted Rast, who felt Preining’s move for the lead was too aggressive, after the race. “On the other hand, it was a sensational weekend for Schubert Motorsport, with two poles, one win and three podiums.
“I had turned in before Thomas Preining’s manoeuvre. At that point, you are no longer looking in the mirror but at the corner. When I stepped on the gas again, I felt an impact on the left and he forced his way past me. I would have liked him to have given me the place back, but clerk of the course Sven Stoppe saw it differently.”
Mirko Bortolotti improved from sixth on the grid to finish fourth in his SSR Performance Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2.
Behind him, Audi racer Kelvin van der Linde made up four positions. However, despite several attempts, he was unable to overtake the Italian in front of him and had to settle for fifth.
Dennis Olsen from the Manthey EMA team came home sixth at the head of a Porsche trio. The Norwegian was followed home by the Team Bernhard 911 GT3 Rs driven by Laurin Heinrich and Güven who came home in seventh and eighth place.
Maro Engel from Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter produced the fightback of the day. The experienced 37-year-old battled back from 18th on the grid and was rewarded with ninth place. Fellow Mercedes-AMG driver Luca Stolz came home 10th.
Image courtesy of DTM
