Race report

DTM Oschersleben: Preining wins, Thiim loses points lead to Engel

Thomas Preining wins Saturday's DTM race in Oschersleben from pole, Maro Engel loses second place due to a mishap but is the new DTM leader

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.

Maro Engel, Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol Mercedes-AMG EVO GT3

Photo by: ADAC Motorsport

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

RACE1

All Stats

Cla	Driver	#	Car	Laps	Points
1	T. Preining Manthey Racing	91	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2)	0	25
2	L. Engstler Red Bull Team Abt	130	Lamborghini Temerario GT3	0	20
3	M. Engel Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol	80	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	0	16
4	L. Auer Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf	22	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	0	13
5	M. Bortolotti TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT	19	Lamborghini Temerario GT3	0	11
6	A. Maini HRT Ford Performance	36	Ford Mustang GT3 Evo	0	10
7	K. van der Linde Schubert Motorsport	3	BMW M4 GT3 Evo	0	9
8	T. Glock Dörr Motorsport	16	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	0	8
9	T. Vermeulen Emil Frey Racing	69	Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo	0	7
10	R. Feller Manthey Racing	90	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2)	0	6
11	M. Cairoli Emil Frey Racing	14	Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo	0	5
12	N. Thiim Comtoyou Racing	7	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo	0	4
13	T. Kalender Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf	84	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	0	3
dnf	B. Buus Land-Motorsport	29	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2)	0
dnf	J. Gounon Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter	48	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	0
dnf	M. Mapelli Red Bull Team Abt	10	Lamborghini Temerario GT3	0
dnf	F. Wiebelhaus HRT Ford Performance	64	Ford Mustang GT3 Evo	0
dnf	N. Baert Comtoyou Racing	8	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo	0
dnf	M. Wittmann Schubert Motorsport	11	BMW M4 GT3 Evo	0
dnf	B. Dörr Dörr Motorsport	25	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	0
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