Finishing third in Sunday’s race at the Red Bull Ring, Porsche works driver Thomas Preining has regained the lead in the DTM drivers’ standings. Following his home races, the Austrian will travel to the season finale at the Hockenheimring in four weeks’ time holding a ten-point advantage. Preining’s Manthey EMA teammate Dennis Olsen from Norway rounded off the strong performance for the Meuspath team securing fifth place on Sunday. With Ayhancan Güven (Team75 Motorsport) from Turkey in seventh and Germany’s Marvin Dienst (Toksport WRT) in 14th, two more Porsche 911 GT3 R drivers earned points in the race that took place on a dry track. Their respective teammates failed to score any further championship points in the 14th of this season’s 16 rounds: Laurin Heinrich finished 16th and his German compatriot Tim Heinemann crossed the line in 21st.
“From a Porsche point of view, we can look back on a fantastic weekend,” said a delighted Sebastian Golz, Project Manager 911 GT3 R. “The performance of the cars was good and our drivers did a brilliant job across the board – that was certainly not an easy task, especially given the mixed conditions on Saturday. Now, we’re travelling from Austria back to Germany holding the lead in all three classifications. We’re looking forward to an exciting finale at Hockenheim in four weeks’ time.”
Team75 Motorsport driver Heinrich claims his second DTM podium on Saturday
Saturday’s DTM race at the Red Bull Ring was defined by ever-changing weather and track conditions. Former Porsche Junior Laurin Heinrich handled these challenging conditions best: Starting from pole position, last year’s Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland champion spent a long stint in the lead. Three days before his 22nd birthday, he celebrated the second podium finish of his still-young DTM career. Meanwhile, Thomas Preining’s sixth place slashed the gap to Mirko Bortolotti – who was leading the drivers’ standings at the time – to six points. His Manthey EMA teammate Dennis Olsen harvested more championship points with tenth place, as did Ayhancan Güven. The Turk crossed the finish line in eleventh place in the second Team75 Motorsport 911 GT3 R. The two Toksport WRT drivers Tim Heinemann and Marvin Dienst were the only Porsche drivers to opt for slicks in qualifying in changeable weather conditions. Starting from grid positions 20 and 22, they missed out on scoring points.
Comments from the race weekend at the Red Bull Ring
Thomas Preining (Manthey EMA, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91): “A home race is always something special for me. I would have felt like a winner this weekend regardless of the result. As the leader in the standings, I’m heading home feeling particularly upbeat, of course. After a strong qualifying session, unfortunately not much went our way in the difficult conditions of Saturday’s race. On Sunday, I managed to make up one position at the start of the race and finish third. With that, we got the absolute maximum out of this track against the turbo cars.”
Laurin Heinrich (Team75 Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R #75): “Saturday was simply perfect for me. In tough conditions, I was able to secure pole position – not only my first in the DTM but also Team75 Motorsport’s first. Unfortunately, we changed from wet to slick tyres one or two laps too late in the race. That might’ve cost us victory. Nevertheless, it was a banner day for me. Unfortunately, I didn’t get an optimal lap in qualifying on Sunday. Considering the tough competition, that’ll land you in 20th place. My pace in the race was good and I finished just outside the points in 16th.”
Marvin Dienst (Toksport WRT, Porsche 911 GT3 R #99): “I’m looking back on this weekend half crying and half laughing. On Saturday, we took a big risk in qualifying by opting for slicks. That didn’t pay off. Overnight, we managed to make another huge step in terms of performance, which converted into 15th place on the grid – just a tenth of a second faster and we would’ve been in the top 10. The two championship points on Sunday are a conciliatory conclusion to the weekend.”
Results
Race 13:
1. Kelvin van der Linde (RSA), Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II #3, 37 laps
2. Laurin Heinrich (D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #75, +1.306 seconds
3. Ricardo Feller (CH), Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II #7, +6.631 seconds
6. Thomas Preining (A), Porsche 911 GT3 R #91, +9.863 seconds
10. Dennis Olsen (N), Porsche 911 GT3 R #90, +11.374 seconds
11. Ayhancan Güven (TR), Porsche 911 GT3 R #24, +11.845 seconds
21. Tim Heinemann (D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #9, +17.802 seconds
22. Marvin Dienst (D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #99, +19.931 seconds
Race 14:
1. René Rast (D), BMW M4 GT3 #33, 41 laps
2. Sheldon van der Linde (RSA), BMW M4 GT3 #1, +1.263 seconds
3. Thomas Preining (A), Porsche 911 GT3 R #91, +4.723 seconds
5. Dennis Olsen (N), Porsche 911 GT3 R #90, +11.907 seconds
7. Ayhancan Güven (TR), Porsche 911 GT3 R #24, +16.292 seconds
14. Marvin Dienst (D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #99, +33.763 seconds
16. Laurin Heinrich (D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #75, +40.834 seconds
21. Tim Heinemann (D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #9, +53.744 seconds
Drivers’ standings after 14 of 16 races:
1. Thomas Preining (A/Manthey EMA/Porsche), 190 points
2. Mirko Bortolotti (I/SSR Performance/Lamborghini), 180 points
3. Ricardo Feller (CH/Team Abt Sportsline/Audi), 159 points
8. Dennis Olsen (N/Manthey EMA/Porsche), 104 points
13. Laurin Heinrich (D/Team75 Motorsport/Porsche), 78 points
15. Ayhancan Güven (TR/ Team75 Motorsport/Porsche), 65 points
17. Tim Heinemann (D/Toksport WRT/Porsche), 50 points
18. Christian Engelhart (D/Toksport WRT/Porsche), 36 points
29. Marvin Dienst (D/Toksport WRT/Porsche), 7 points
Team standings after 14 of 16 races:
1. Manthey EMA (Porsche), 283 points
2. ABT Sportsline (Audi), 256 points
3. SSR Performance (Lamborghini), 255 points
6. Team75 Motorsport (Porsche), 136 points
10. Toksport WRT (Porsche), 91 points
Manufacturer standings after 14 of 16 races:
1. Porsche, 384 points
2. Lamborghini, 343 points
3. Mercedes-AMG, 331 points
4. BMW, 316 points
5. Audi, 300 points
6. Ferrari, 173 points
Full results: www.dtm.com/en/results