Thomas Preining shines again on Sunday: The “Grello” Porsche driver secures pole position once more, while Lucas Auer spins out and Nicki Thiim struggles again
Thomas Preining confirms his dominance at Oschersleben: After securing pole and victory on Saturday, the “Grello” Porsche driver also clinched pole position in Sunday’s qualifying with a time of 1:22.400—once again ahead of Abt Lamborghini driver Luca Engstler, who was 0.105 seconds off the pace and had already finished second on Saturday.
“A great weekend—the car was fantastic again, just like yesterday and Friday,” Preining told ran.de, delighted with another top result. “It was a true team effort this weekend—and of course I hope we can carry that over into the race.”
That will be more difficult than on Saturday, as the Manthey driver will have to cope with the 20 kilograms of success ballast he’ll be carrying in the car due to his victory on Saturday. However, the positions of the other Porsche drivers once again highlight just how strong the Austrian’s performance was: Teammate Ricardo Feller (+0.319) finished eleventh, and Porsche driver Bastian Buus (+0.387) came in 13th.
BMW’s Success Thanks to an Ailing Wittmann—and a Tire Advantage!
There was also a sense of accomplishment for Marco Wittmann, who was suffering from a gastrointestinal illness; after retiring on Saturday, he secured third place, 0.150 seconds behind, thereby ensuring a strong starting position for BMW at Schubert’s home race. `
“The car already felt good yesterday, and now—even with the BoP changes—we can race up front,” he said, referring to the revised Balance of Performance (BoP), which once again allows the BMW M4 GT3 Evo to run with higher boost pressure. Thanks to his retirement, the Franconian has an additional ace up his sleeve, as all drivers at Oschersleben have only three sets of tires available for both race days.
“Of course, I have a tire advantage because of my retirement in yesterday’s race,” “I hope we can take advantage of that.”
DTM Leader Engel Is the Top Mercedes-AMG Driver
Starting in fourth and fifth places are HRT Ford driver Arjun Maini (+0.222) and DTM leader Maro Engel (+0.244) in the top Mercedes. “I think that was more or less the absolute maximum of what we had in our package,” the satisfied Winward driver told ran.de. Especially since his teammates didn’t finish at the front of the field. “It happens very quickly that you end up further back in the DTM,” the 40-year-old knows.
That’s exactly what happened to Landgraf-Mercedes driver Lucas Auer, who slid into the gravel in the second corner during his fast lap and ultimately managed to salvage only 17th place. The Austrian, who sits third in the overall standings, was 0.568 seconds off the pace, which shows just how close the margins were.
“I shot straight out”: Auer far behind after going off track
“Actually, everything was going well, but I was struggling so much and then I shot straight out,” Auer explains to ran.de about the incident, during which his tires picked up a lot of dirt. After that, he said, he “had to find a track position again. That’s bad for me and for everyone behind me because it brings sand onto the track.”
Nevertheless, he still managed to put in a reasonably decent lap afterward. It “didn’t feel all that bad,” he said, but was “pretty far off the pace.” Auer’s slip-up drew the ire of Schubert-BMW driver Kelvin van der Linde, whose lap was affected as a result.
“I had to cut my lap short because of Auer, who went off the track in Turn 2,” says the German-South African, who finished seventh, 0.294 seconds behind, despite the incident. “Of course, there was a lot of dirt on the track”—and he had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“I asked him what happened—and obviously he didn’t do it on purpose. I’m just disappointed—I think it would have been the same the other way around,” says van der Linde. Auer shows understanding: “Anyone behind me had their lap ruined.” That’s why he feels bad not only for the Schubert BMW driver, “but for everyone.”
Mid-season champion Thiim once again at the back of the pack
It was yet another bitter disappointment for Nicki Thiim following his completely botched Saturday—despite slightly higher boost pressure due to the BoP adjustment: After starting 18th on Saturday, the mid-season champion finished a distant 19th this time, 0.773 seconds behind.
As a result, the Comtoyou Aston Martin driver—who has slipped to second place in the championship—once again faces an enormous challenge in the race. Due to McLaren driver Ben Dörr being set back three grid positions following Saturday’s collision with Jules Gounon, Auer and Thiim move up to 16th and 18th places (starting grid).
It’s not just Thiim who’s struggling at Oschersleben—his Comtoyou teammate Nicolas Baert is as well: The son of team owner Jean-Michel Baert finished in 20th and last place, 0.897 seconds behind.
The race will start at 1:30 p.m. as usual—and even rain cannot be completely ruled out. Due to the tire regulations, in addition to Wittmann, you should also keep an eye on Winward-Mercedes driver Jules Gounon (10th), HRT-Ford driver Finn Wiebelhaus (14th), Abt-Lamborghini driver Marco Mapelli (17th), Ben Dörr (19th), and Baert on your radar, as they’ve also saved a set of tires.
And on Sunday, two pit stops are on the schedule, which is why all three sets of tires will be used.