Preining Holds Off Bortolotti to Win Hockenheim Race 2

Thomas Preining closed out his DTM championship campaign in style by narrowly beating Mirko Bortolotti to win the final race of the season at Hockenheim.

Preining, who clinched the drivers’ title with a race to spare earlier on Sunday by claiming his third pole of the season, piloted the No. 91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R to victory by a margin of 0.852 seconds over Bortolotti.

The two drivers started the race from the front row, with Preining leading and maintaining his advantage for the majority of the race until Bortolotti increased the pressure in the closing minutes.

The No. 92 SSR Performance Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 neared Preining’s Porsche to within half a second, but ran wide exiting the final corner at the start of the final lap. A short trip through the grass allowed Preining some breathing room, which was enough for him to claim a third victory of the season.

Rene Rast completed the podium in the No. 33 Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 after late drama for Maro Engel cost the Mercedes driver a podium finish.

The No. 48 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo ran in third position with minutes remaining when he reported some kind of issue with the car, possibly related to the steering.

Rast closed in on the wounded Mercedes, passing Engel for third place on the final lap while his Schubert stablemate Sheldon van der Linde also managed to get by and take fourth place.

Engel was eventually classified as fifth, ahead of Laurin Heinrich and Luca Stolz. Lucas Auer’s No. 22 Mercedes finished eighth, while Ricardo Feller and Marco Wittmann completed the top ten.

Wittmann’s No. 11 Team Project 1 BMW was involved an early-race incident involving GRT Grasser Racing Team driver Christian Engelhart.

The German made contact with Engelhart in a battle for ninth place in the opening laps of the race approaching the Spitzkehre, pitching the No. 19 Lamborghini into a spin that resulted in an impact with the barrier and triggering a safety car.

Engelhart, who finished third during Race 1 on Saturday, walked away from the crash under his own power.

RESULTS: Race 2