Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol’s Maro Engel won the final race of the 2026 DTM season at the Hockenheimring, whilst third place was more than enough for Manthey’s Thomas Preining to score his second DTM Drivers’ Championship.
Preining entered the finale with a 20-point advantage over Schubert Motorsport’s Marco Wittmann, with Engel the final contender a further two points behind in third.
Engel, courtesy of qualifying third behind the Land-Motorsport and Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 Rs (992.2) of maiden pole sitter Bastian Buus and Ricardo Feller respectively, earned one point in qualifying, whilst Preining lined up for the finale from seventh on the grid, with Wittmann down in 17th.
On the opening lap, Engel moved up to second behind Buus, whilst Preining climbed into third ahead of Feller and Dörr Motorsport McLaren GT3 Evo racer Ben Dörr. Shortly before the first round of pit stops, Engel passed Buus for the lead at Turn 8, with Preining and Feller also finding a way past the Dane.
The running order at the head of the field remained unchanged after the two mandatory pit stops, with Buus’ overcut on the pair of Manthey Porsches at the second round of pit stops undone by the time his Pirelli rubber was up to temperature.
Engel was able to pull clear of the Porsche trio in the closing stages, and took the chequered flag with a lead of over three seconds for his third victory of the season.
“I gave it my all and left no stone unturned, but at the end of the day we unfortunately had dropped a few too many points,” Engel said.
“I am a fighter, see every setback as motivation, and will come back stronger. I took some risks in the race. This was the first victory that my daughter has seen live at the circuit. Furthermore, I am proud to have won the Manufacturer title with Mercedes-AMG.”
It is Mercedes-AMG’s third consecutive Manufacturers’ title, and 17th in total.
Behind, Feller passed Preining on the final lap, as the duo successfully defended the Teams’ Championship that Manthey won last season.
“That is one of the best moments of my life,” Drivers’ Champion Preining, who finished on the podium in seven of the last eight races, said.
“It is hard to put the many emotions into words. At the start, I had to be fully focussed, in order to avoid getting caught up in a collision. When I had already managed to climb into fourth place after the opening lap, I knew that it could be a big day for us.”
Buus came home fourth to claim his best result of the season, whilst Dörr completed the top five. Emil Frey Racing’s Matteo Cairoli was sixth in a Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, ahead of Wittmann, HRT Ford Racing’s Arjun Maini and Lamborghini drivers Marco Mapelli and Mirko Bortolotti.
Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf’s Tom Kalender finished 15th to secure the Rookie of the Year crown.
Images courtesy of Gruppe C Photography
