Landgraf-Mercedes driver Lucas Auer wins the first DTM race at Hockenheim, which could hardly have been more thrilling: Thomas Preining (Manthey-Porsche) misses out on wrapping up the title early, while rival Maro Engel (Winward-Mercedes) suffers a bitter drama and loses victory at the pit stop.
Mirko Bortolotti (Grasser-Lamborghini) secures second place, followed by Marco Wittmann in the Schubert-BMW, who keeps his title chances alive with third place. The two-time champion even moves past Engel into second place in the overall standings and is therefore now Preining’s closest pursuer on Sunday.
“We are still alive,” Wittmann sums up on ProSieben. “Our main goal today was to finish ahead of Thomas. That did not look good at all after qualifying; after the first lap everything was definitely completely different again. And that is the Hockenheim factor. I have always said things get chaotic here.”
The title will therefore only be decided on Sunday between Preining, Engel and Wittmann. “You have to stay calm and it is open until the last lap,” says the BMW driver. “And that is what it looks like now as well. We saw it last year, until the last lap.” Despite his victory on Saturday, Auer is out of the title fight.
Kelvin van der Linde (Schubert-BMW) takes sixth place in Saturday’s first race, followed by Winward-AMG driver Jules Gounon. The two HRT-Ford drivers Arjun Maini and Finn Wiebelhaus finish eighth and ninth, while Bastian Buus (Land-Porsche) completes the top 10.
Preining loses chance to clinch title at the start
Just shortly after the start, it became apparent that the title would probably not be decided on Saturday: while Engstler converted his pole position into the lead ahead of Auer, the first chaos broke out behind them. There was a collision between Ricardo Feller (Manthey-Porsche) and Thierry Vermeulen (Emil-Frey-Ferrari) in the second corner.
While the Swiss driver lost the front end of his Manthey-Porsche in the process, the Dutchman also slid slightly into Preining’s Porsche. Race control reacted promptly and handed Feller a penalty: he had to go through the penalty lap a total of three times over the remainder of the race, dropping him to the back of the field.
For DTM championship leader Preining, the drama also began shortly after the start: turning onto the Parabolika, the 2023 champion ran onto the grass and dropped as low as 13th overall on the way to the hairpin. “Unfortunately I didn’t see it exactly,” father Andreas Preining analysed shortly afterwards on ProSieben.
“Maybe he was pushed out onto the grass and then had to come off the throttle.” Although no obvious contact with Vermeulen could be seen, the consequences were serious: “That of course cost him a lot of places at the beginning, but let’s see how far forward he can still get.”
For title rival Maro Engel, by contrast, the opening went almost perfectly and as hoped: the Winward-Mercedes driver fought his way through the melee of the opening corners from seventh on the grid up to third place. Marco Wittmann also made use of the turbulent early phase to work his way into the top 10.
Polesitter Luca Engstler unhurt after heavy accident
On the second lap, Auer launched an attack on leader Engstler at the hairpin. However, the Abt-Lamborghini driver remained alongside the Landgraf-Mercedes on corner exit, before consequential contact in the fast right-hander in front of the Mercedes grandstand.
Engstler then lost control of his Abt-Lamborghini and hit the concrete wall backwards. “We only heard him breathing and then he crawled out of the car,” Abt managing director Thomas Biermaier said shortly afterwards on ProSieben. “I hope it isn’t that bad, because the speed at that point is very high.”
Biermaier held back from assigning blame shortly after the accident, however. “I don’t want to accuse Lucas Auer of anything,” he said. “That’s racing, they are fighting for first place.” Both drivers had “gone very far” and then made contact. Possibly, according to the Abt managing director, something on the Abt-Lamborghini had broken.
After a brief safety car period, race control decided to suspend the race for a few minutes in order to inspect the track barrier. Engstler was meanwhile taken by ambulance to the medical centre for checks. “First of all, I hope Luca is okay, because that is exactly a corner where you don’t want anything to happen,” Auer said during the stoppage on ProSieben. Race control did look at the incident, but issued no penalties.
And the all-clear came while the race was still running: he was “as well as can be expected under the circumstances,” Engstler confirmed on ProSieben. “Of course it was a big hit, but everything is okay. I hope the boys can get the car ready again for tomorrow.”
“I took quite a hard hit,” rival Auer explained the situation in similar terms. “I don’t know what all is broken.” After the subsequent restart, the Landgraf-Mercedes driver initially held the lead ahead of fellow Mercedes driver Engel, while Preining was only in 11th position at the restart.
Auer hands the lead to fellow AMG driver Engel
At Mercedes-AMG, however, the roles were clearly defined: after just a few corners, the initially leading Auer slowed down, of all places in front of the Mercedes grandstand, and handed the lead to his fellow Mercedes driver Maro Engel.
Engel’s team-mate Jules Gounon meanwhile also tried to provide support by defending fiercely against Thomas Preining in the fight for eighth place and at least holding up the Austrian briefly. After a successful overtaking move, however, the Porsche driver continued his fightback.
Wittmann also quickly found his rhythm after the stoppage, picked off Marco Mapelli’s Abt-Lamborghini and moved up to fourth position. Until the pit-stop window opened, the race then ran much more calmly. None of the top drivers wanted to be the first to come in for the mandatory tyre change.
Maro Engel loses secure lead at the pit stop
Glock and Preining, who had previously been duelling for seventh place, came in for the mandatory tyre change at the same time. Because the stop for the Dorr squad did not go smoothly, the former Formula 1 driver already dropped behind Preining.
To make matters worse, he collided shortly afterwards on cold tyres with Gounon’s Winward-AMG, which had already completed its pit stop and brought its tyres up to temperature. Glock spun, damaged the front end of his car and initially dropped well back in the overall classification before having to park his McLaren for good.
Race control wants to investigate the incident after the race. Shortly afterwards, more drivers from the lead group made their pit stops, including Kelvin van der Linde. Preining used the opportunity and went past the South African at the hairpin.
The real drama in the title fight, however, came only at Maro Engel’s pit stop. Because the right-rear wheel jammed, the Winward-Mercedes driver was stationary for more than 16 seconds. He then returned to the track already behind Auer and Bortolotti, and a little later Wittmann also went past him.
At least Mapelli and Preining, who were lying close behind the AMG driver on the out-lap, could not find a way past. Nevertheless, the botched pit stop had dropped Engel to fourth place. The AMG driver, however, did not give up and fought his way forward again in the closing stages.
Title fight decision only on Sunday
Shortly before the end, Engel even managed to overtake Wittmann’s Schubert-BMW and initially fight his way back onto the podium. In doing so, however, the AMG driver forced his way past roughly in front of the Mercedes grandstand and pushed Wittmann off the track. Race control therefore ordered the positions to be swapped.
Preining had previously already taken advantage of a mistake by Mapelli and taken fifth position from the Abt driver. However, the Austrian, who now has 209 points in the overall standings, still misses out on wrapping up the title early.
“I’m glad we even finished at all,” Preining said on ProSieben, visibly annoyed. “At the start, everyone drove into my car. A few things are not super sporting either, but that is to be expected. In the finale, things are always heated. I’m glad we were still able to take good points.”
“We were a bit lucky that things didn’t go so well for one or two others at the pit stop either, and my crew delivered as always,” the Manthey driver knows. “I am very proud of that and very grateful, because now the lead has actually stayed almost the same.”
Because Engel finishes ahead of Preining in fourth, the Winward driver cuts his deficit by two points. Wittmann also makes up ground with his third place and even moves up to second in the overall standings. Nevertheless, there is still much to suggest that Preining will seal the title on Sunday: Wittmann is already 20 points behind, while Engel’s deficit is as much as 22 points.
There are still 28 points to play for in the final race. But “you can see how quickly things can happen in the DTM,” Preining adds. “So I can rely on my team. I think basically on myself as well. But when you are attacked from all sides, something can go wrong. It will be the same again tomorrow. We have to prepare for that and start from as far up the front as possible. Then that reduces the risk.”
The finale of the 2026 DTM season takes place on Sunday.
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