Bortolotti Has “Nothing to Lose” in Hockenheim Title Decider

DTM title contender Mirko Bortolotti insists he has “nothing to lose” as he seeks to overcome a ten-point deficit to Thomas Preining with two races remaining at Hockenheim.

Preining and Bortolotti, along with ABT Sportsline driver Ricardo Feller, are the remaining candidates to succeed Sheldon van der Linde as champion in the German GT3 sprint series.

Of the three drivers, Preining has the best position heading into the weekend with 190 points, leading Bortolotti with 180.

Preining, piloting the No. 91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R, took over the points lead from Bortolotti by finishing third during Race 2 at the Red Bull Ring, in which the Italian finished 21st after suffering a puncture from early contact with Marvin Dienst.

While Bortolotti admits that the Red Bull Ring round was a setback, he believes the pressure is now with Preining to defend his points lead in the final two races.

“We’ve got nothing to lose,” Bortolotti told Sportscar365. “The last race has been negative for us.

“We’ve scored only seven points at Red Bull Ring, which is not what we were supposed to do and what we managed to do in the rest of the season.

“So for sure, it puts us in a position where obviously, Preining has everything to lose now, because he’s in a position where he has it in his own hands.

“And for us, we got nothing to lose. Not only on the points point of view, but we should not forget who we are fighting and where we come from.

“It’s already a huge satisfaction to be in a position that we can really annoy the German brands in the way we are doing it consistently in the last two seasons, which is not something common and which is not something you can take for granted.

“Winning this kind of championship with a BMW, Audi or Mercedes is one thing, but doing it with a Lamborghini is a bit different.

“Being here, fighting for the title until the last race, two times in a row, is something that only we managed to do. So this is already a big thing and a big step and makes me already really proud looking at our season we had so far.”

Preining, for his part, insisted he treats the season finale as any other race weekend, stating it’s “business as usual” at Hockenheim.

“You don’t win or lose any championship on the last race weekend,” said Preining.

“That’s why it’s not a race win, it’s a championship win if you do well. You need to score points over the course of the entire season.

“That’s also why it’s the same amount of pressure as always. That’s why this weekend is the same importance as all the others to us.

“It’s nothing special in the end, nothing different. It’s business as usual and we just need to maximise our package and for sure we’re in the mix.”

Bortolotti noted one key advantage he has over Preining: his number of race wins. The Lamborghini driver stood on the top step of the podium  three times, while Preining’s sole race victory this season came in Race 2 at the Norisring.

“We are nine points behind,” Bortolotti said.

“I say nine because if we end up tied, we will be in front because we have more wins. So it’s a nine point gap.

“As I said, we got nothing to lose. He’s in a much better position. So we can only focus on getting everything out of the package and more which we’ve been doing the whole season, as you could see, being the only Lamborghini, fighting for it in the end.

“So we need to try [and] keep doing it in Hockenheim, of course. That’s the goal and the aim.”