Preining Tops Oschersleben DTM Practice as Thiim Off Pace
Reigning DTM champion Thomas Preining turned the tide on recent frustrations by setting the fastest times across both Friday practice sessions at Oschersleben.
Steering his Manthey Porsche, the Austrian posted the day’s benchmark with a 1:22.425 lap during afternoon qualifying runs. The strong showing marked a complete turnaround from his difficult weekend at the Norisring, where severe dissatisfaction with Balance of Performance allocations led him to threaten an exit from the championship.
Manthey teammate Ricardo Feller mirrored Preining’s rhythm, securing second position in both outings with a tiny margin of 0.081 seconds separating the pair. Luca Engstler slotted his Abt Sportsline entry into third during the afternoon, trailing the lead pace by 0.091 seconds.
Mercedes overcomes tyre issue
Former track winner Lucas Auer took fourth for Landgraf Mercedes, leading brand colleagues Maro Engel in sixth and Jules Gounon in seventh. Gounon endured a stressful start to his afternoon when a heavily worn tyre forced an emergency pit return under suspicion of suspension failure.
Grasser driver Mirko Bortolotti placed his Lamborghini third in the morning before settling into fifth overall. Operating as his squad’s lone entrant due to the absence of teammate Maximilian Paul, the Italian demonstrated that the Temerario GT3 remains potent despite revised technical restrictions across the field.
Championship leader encounters setback
McLaren driver Ben Dorr claimed eighth, while Marco Wittmann led BMW’s efforts in 11th place. Fighting through an illness at his team’s home venue, Wittmann contended with a technical layout notoriously hostile to his vehicle’s extended wheelbase. Teammate Kelvin van der Linde followed in 15th position.
Current points leader Nicki Thiim suffered a major setback, placing his Comtoyou Aston Martin a distant 16th following recent dominant victories. His teammate Nicolas Baert finished last after two off-track excursions. Former series champion Maximilian Gotz remarked that Oschersleben’s winding layout severely penalises the Vantage, handing title pursuers a vital opportunity to erase Thiim’s championship margin.
Emil Frey Ferrari driver Matteo Cairoli ended in 12th place behind teammate Thierry Vermeulen in 11th, confirming pre-event technical concerns regarding restrictive BoP parameters. Meanwhile, Ford Mustang drivers Arjun Maini and Finn Wiebelhaus ended 17th and 18th, as the heavy American cars struggled to find traction through the tight turns.
