HOCKENHEIM, GERMANY — DTM championship leader Thomas Preining struck first in the high-stakes season finale at the Hockenheimring, topping the timesheets in opening practice on Friday. In a dry but overcast opening session, the Manthey EMA Porsche driver laid down an early marker to lead the field, edging out his title rivals as the deciding weekend of the championship got underway.
Preining, who holds a 23-point cushion over Maro Engel and a 24-point margin over Marco Wittmann, clocked a benchmark lap of 1:36.974 around the 4.574 km circuit. Driving the iconic “Grello” Porsche 911 GT3 R, the Austrian was the only driver to breach the sub-1:37 barrier in the 45-minute session.
Title Contenders Keep the Pressure On
While Preining set the standard, his championship rivals remained within striking distance on a cool afternoon under grey skies.
Marco Wittmann enjoyed a productive opening outing in his Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3, finishing 3rd overall with a 1:37.183. Wittmann, sitting third in the driver standings, showed consistent long-run race pace alongside his late qualifying simulation.
Maro Engel, Preining’s nearest challenger in the points standings, placed 6th in his WINWARD Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 with a 1:37.340 (+0.366s). Engel focused primarily on race setup setup evaluations during the early portion of the session before setting a clean representative lap late on.
Action-Packed Late Drama
Jules Gounon slotted into 2nd place in his WINWARD Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, falling just 0.050 seconds short of Preining’s mark. However, Gounon provided the session’s defining drama in the closing minutes; an excursion into the barrier at the famous Sachskurve triggered a late Full Course Yellow neutralization.
Rounding out the top five were HRT’s Finn Wiebelhaus in the Ford Mustang GT3 (+0.262s) and Mirko Bortolotti in the Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini (+0.263s), highlighting the close BoP convergence across five different manufacturers in the top six positions.
With cloudy weather expected to persist into Saturday’s opening Qualifying session, Preining’s early statement keeps the momentum firmly in the Austrian’s corner as he aims to secure his second DTM crown.