Preining wins, Thiim loses points lead to Engel

Thomas Preining has clinched victory in Saturday’s DTM race at Oschersleben, taking his second win of the season, in a dominant fashion from pole position 

The 2023 DTM champion took victory by 1.601s ahead of Abt Lamborghini’s Luca Engstler, with Maro Engel in third for Winward Mercedes.

Preining controlled the race from pole position, while behind him Engel made a decisive move past Engstler into Turn 1. In the opening laps, Preining initially pulled away from his pursuers, but Engel then picked up his pace and closed the gap to Preining.

The battle for the win was decided during the mandatory pitstop, which both Preining and Engel completed after lap 21. While Manthey serviced Preining’s car quickly, Engel suffered a jammed left-front wheel and due to the slow pitstop, he lost second place to Engstler.

Since Norisring dominator Nicki Thiim could not get beyond 12th place, also due to the unfavourable Balance of Performance of his Aston Martin and the success ballast after his wins in Nuremberg, Engel still took over the championship lead with third place.

Ben Dorr’s race ended on the opening lap when the Dorr McLaren driver came together with Jules Gounon at Turn 3. Dorr was carried wide at the exit of the left-hander and touched Gounon’s car, forcing him onto the grass. The resulting puncture ripped parts off the car, and Dorr subsequently retired.

The contact also had consequences for Gounon. The Winward Mercedes driver ran off track slightly several times during the following laps. After lap 27, he parked his car in the garage.

Marco Wittmann was also forced to retire his Schubert BMW prematurely due to a puncture.

In the drivers’ championship, Engel now leads with a six-point advantage over Lucas Auer – who took fourth in the Oschersleben opener – and in turn is just one point ahead of Thiim.

DTM Oschersleben – Race 1 results

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