Thomas Preining dominated Race 1 of the DTM in Hockenheim, placing a serious claim on the 2023 title, not yet assigned thanks to a moving performance by Mirko Bortolotti, who tried everything to leave the battle open until the end.
The Austrian from Manthey EMA made the most of the Pole Position to hold the lead at the first corner, protected by the Porsche of his teammate Dennis Olsen, who in turn defended the place of honor from a spirited Christian Engelhart armed with Lamborghini by GRT.
Behind them a splendid brawl immediately broke out between the Ferrari of Jack Aitken (Emil Frey Racing), the ABT Sportsline Audis driven by Ricardo Feller and Kelvin Van Der Linde, and the Lamborghini of Bortolotti, who was let pass by the connects Franck Perera so he can fight to keep his hopes alive.
Preining, Olsen and Engelhart took off with a handful of seconds on the following quartet, who lost ground slightly with the first skirmishes between Aitken and Feller. The latter finally overtook the 296 after a series of hatches, but was passed again shortly afterwards while the large audience crowded in the stands roared with amusement.
Photo by: Lamborghini Squadra Corse
Mirko Bortolotti, SSR Performance, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2
On lap 13 the whirlwind of pit stops began, Aitken and Feller returned immediately, Bortolotti and K.Van Der Linde waited for the next lap and the Trentino driver came out in front of all three, but resisted little due to cold tires and found himself again trailing its rivals.
Meanwhile, the three in front had no problems staying on the podium, so the fight for the championship offered a unique spectacle, especially thanks to a Bortolotti with blood in his eyes. Feller, who had overtaken Aitken in the meantime, has left his problems behind him.
Bortolotti waited until lap 29 to launch the decisive attack on K.Van Der Linde, as always unwilling to give his rivals a free pass without giving him at least one touch, which the South African did at the hairpin of the ‘Motodrome’ with the rear of SSR Performance’s Huracan, which climbed sixth and was in full pursuit of Aitken’s Ferrari.
The Trentino driver continued to push and on lap 33 he managed to get behind the Brit as well, grabbing a very precious Top5 in terms of hopes for the title.
Meanwhile, Preining strolled across the finish line comfortably as the winner and now with a 27 point advantage over Bortolotti, while the Porsche double was completed by the excellent Olsen.
![Christian Engelhart, Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán EVO GT3](https://cdn-4.motorsport.com/images/mgl/YW7aZbeY/s1000/christian-engelhart-grasser-ra-1.jpg)
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
Christian Engelhart, Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán EVO GT3
Lamborghini on the podium with the revived Engelhart, Feller defended the final fourth place from a last desperate assault by Bortolotti, but the Swiss is now cut out of the duels for the championship having fallen to -46 from the top, when 28 points are up for grabs between Qualifying 2 and Race 2.
K.Van Der Linde at the end got rid of an Aitken who was struggling with the pace to take sixth place, Luca Stolz (HRT) finished eighth as the best of the Mercedes, followed by the BMW of Marco Wittmann (Project 1), in turn the best good performance for the M4s also due to the puncture that knocked out René Rast, hit by a rival which caused damage to the front right.
In the Top10 we also have the Porsche of Laurin Heinrich, which beats the Ferrari of Thierry Vermeulen (Emil Frey Racing), the Lamborghini of Clemens Schmid (GRT), the Porsche of Marvin Dinst (Toksport WRT) and Perera, dropped in order due to of two ‘penalty laps’ taken for speeding in the pit lane.
Qualifying 2 is scheduled for Sunday morning at 9.30 am and Race 2 at 1.30 pm; both are not to be missed because the fight between Preining and Bortolotti could be decided already in the timed session.
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