Preining concludes as champion

• The 2023 champion is respected at the start. He leads the pack with his dolphin behind. Sheldon van der Linde, the now outgoing champion, is 3rd.

• The comeback at the start of the race goes to René Rast from 23rd, the triple champion is 14th after 2 laps of racing!

• On the 4th lap, Marco Wittmann (Project 1) and Christian Engelhart (Grasser Racing team) held on while braking at the hairpin. Engelhart's Huracan ends up in the wall bringing the safety car for the first time in the race!

• At the restart, Preining quickly distanced himself while Bortolotti had to defend his position against an unleashed van der Linde. No change for the moment on the provisional podium.

• René Rast continues his crazy comeback, he is now 9th!

• In the lead Preining does not distance himself, he enforces his status as boss of the DTM. The top 5 is made up of Laurin Heinrich (Team 75 Motorsport) and Luca Stolz (Team HRT), the Classic Mercedes for sale the best placed since the start of the race!

• We then witness a great fight between Kevin van der Linde and René Rast for 7th place.

• As soon as the pit stop window opens, many of them make their stops simultaneously. Van der Linde and Stolz also rubbed shoulders when leaving the pits. Van der Linde receives a penalty for having been a little too dangerous according to the race direction.

• Bortolotti makes his stop 1 lap before Preining, these are the teams that will make the difference here. When he returns to the track, Preining is well ahead of the transalpine! The fight for 3rd place (provisional) intensifies between van der Linde and Stolz. The loser of the pit stops is none other than Sheldon van der Linde, 7th behind Rast and Maro Engel!

• When Perera made his stop, Preining took control of the race with Bortolotti still on his heels. Engel is 4th and van der Linde 5th.

• A few minutes from the end, Bortolotti came back on Preining. He puts pressure on his young opponent, but the Manthey EMA driver seemed indifferent to the Italian's presence.

• Entering the last lap, the fate of the race seemed sealed with Bortolotti's slightly wide exit before the timing line. Thomas Preining wins his 3rd race of the 2023 season. He brilliantly celebrates his 2023 championship title. The Austrian had the perfect weekend by taking both poles and winning both races.

• René Rast manages to overtake Maro Engel in the final turns of the race to get on the podium of the race. The three-time champion moved up 20 places in this race!

• Preining is therefore 2023 DTM champion ahead of Mirko Bortolotti and Ricardo Feller for Audi's last season in official competition.

Race results and championship standings

perfect race for Preining who signs his 2nd success of the weekend. ©DTM Media

Preining, Bortolotti and Feller on the 2023 podium ©DTM Media