Thomas Preining completes his very personal dream weekend by authoritatively winning Race 2 of the DTM, completing the work of art that saw him stand out in every way and deservedly become the 2023 Champion.
The first season of the German series in the hands of ADAC as management therefore ends with the queen Porsche thanks to the boy representing the Manthey EMA, who at the start kept behind the attacking Mirko Bortolotti, for whom determination is not enough to succeed at least to overtake the 911 in ‘Grello’ livery, which dominated from the first to the last lap.
In SSR Performance they had also tried the card of stopping earlier than their rivals, but the Trentino driver from Lamborghini Squadra Corse still found himself behind the Austrian, who didn’t give up an inch despite the attacks until the very end.
On the second lap there was also a Safety Car caused by the collision that Marco Wittmann gave to Christian Engelhart at the ‘Spitzkehere’ hairpin while they were fighting for ninth place, sending GRT’s Lamborghini into a spin, crashing disastrously into the barriers and inevitably retiring .
Shortly after the restart the whirlwind of stops began (lap 12) and here the coup was mainly made by Schubert Motorsport, leaving René Rast out until the 18th lap, with the BMW of the multiple DTM champion returning to the track by climbing from the 11th to 4th place.
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
Mirko Bortolotti, SSR Performance Lamborghini Huracán EVO GT3
Meanwhile, up front, behind the dueling Preining and Bortolotti, the excellent Maro Engel also took advantage of pit stops to overtake his rivals; in the case of the Mercedes driver, the choice to change his Pirellis on lap 13 paid off by putting the Mann Filter-branded AMG on the podium, but a technical problem at the end saw him forced to grit his teeth.
The last lap was a struggle for the German, overtaken by the BMW-Schuberts of Rast and Sheldon Van Der Linde, third and fourth respectively. Sixth was the Porsche of Laurin Heinrich (Team75), followed by the Mercedes of Luca Stolz (HRT) – struggling to keep up with their rivals after the stop – and Lucas Auer (Winward).
Also finishing in the top 10 were Ricardo Feller’s Audi (ABT Sportsline), the best of the R8 LMS, and Wittmann’s BMW, with Jack Aitken determined in the duels to try to get back on top, bringing Emil Frey Racing’s Ferrari 11th with behind the Porsches of Ayhançan Guven (Team75) and Dennis Olsen (Manthey EMA).
The second Ferrari of Emil Frey Racing in the hands of Thierry Vermeulen finishes at the back, involved in a collision with Mattia Drudi’s Audi which was sent into a spin after a desperate braking by the Dutchman, punished with three ‘penalty laps’.
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