Preining Dominates Oschersleben Opener to Boost DTM Title Challenge

Posted : 26 July 2026

Porsche factory driver Thomas Preining continued his outstanding form at Motorsport Arena Oschersleben by claiming a commanding victory in the opening race of the DTM weekend. The Manthey Porsche driver converted pole position into his second win of the 2026 season after leading from start to finish in Round Nine of the championship.

Preining entered the race as the favourite after setting the pace in both Free Practice and Qualifying. The Austrian made a clean start in the No. 91 Porsche 911 GT3 R and quickly established control of the 40-lap contest around the 3.667-kilometre circuit. His lead grew to around two seconds before the mandatory pit stop, allowing Manthey to execute a perfect tyre change that kept him comfortably at the front.

Behind the race leader, Maro Engel made an excellent getaway in his Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol machine to move ahead of Red Bull Team Abt's Luca Engstler for second place. However, the pit-stop sequence changed the order when Engstler stopped a lap earlier and used the advantage of warmer Pirelli tyres to reclaim the position from Engel after the Mercedes driver exited the pits.

Engstler continued to close the gap to Preining during the closing stages but was unable to mount a serious challenge for victory. The Lamborghini Temerario GT3 driver crossed the finish line 1.601 seconds behind the winner to secure his first podium finish of the season after also recording the new car's maiden front-row start.

Preining praised his team's strategy after claiming another important victory in his title campaign.

"We want to challenge for the title, so this victory was super important for us," Preining said. "Our strategy came off perfectly. Getting the timing of your pit stop right is vital at Oschersleben because you soon find yourself behind lapped traffic. Luca Engstler was closing in during the closing laps, so I had to remain fully focused."

Engel completed the podium in third and moved to the top of the drivers' championship standings. The Mercedes driver now holds a four-point advantage over Nicki Thiim, who finished 12th, while Lucas Auer crossed the line fourth to remain third in the championship, six points behind the leader. Preining's victory lifted him to fourth in the standings.

Mirko Bortolotti finished fifth for TGI Team by GRT after inheriting a position following Ben Dörr's early retirement. Arjun Maini produced one of the drives of the race by climbing six places to finish sixth for HRT Ford Racing, while Kelvin van der Linde gained eight positions to claim seventh for Schubert Motorsport. Timo Glock ended a run of misfortune with eighth place ahead of Thierry Vermeulen and Ricardo Feller, who completed the top 10.

Round 10 of the 2026 DTM Championship at Oschersleben is scheduled to conclude the weekend's action as the title battle continues to intensify.

Preining Dominates Oschersleben Opener to Boost DTM Title Challenge

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