Preining beats Ferrari duo for his third DTM win at the Norisring

Staying aggressive and tactically smart, Thomas Preining (Manthey EMA) produced a strong performance on Sunday to claim his third DTM victory at the Norisring. The Porsche works driver piled on the pressure from the start and was rewarded for some spectacular overtaking maneuvers with his first win of the season. After finishing runner-up in the Saturday race, the 2023 champion now climbs to second place in the overall standings.

"We want to challenge for the title, that has been our clear goal since race one. After a bumpy start to the season, we have bounced back emphatically with this victory and shown that we are made of sterner stuff," said Preining. "Jack Aitken gifted me nothing, our battle was great entertainment for the many fans."

Aitken (Emil Frey Racing) crossed the finish line in his Ferrari 296 GT3 in second place, just 1.6 seconds after Preining. His teammate Thierry Vermeulen was third in an eventful race.

The start of race eight of the season saw Preining immediately gain three positions and slot in behind pole-sitter Vermeulen and Aitken in third place. Even before the end of lap one, the race had to be suspended due to a collision involving multiple cars at the back of the field. The race resumed roughly half an hour later with Arjun Maini (HRT Ford Performance) in a Ford Mustang GT3 and Ben Green in the third Emil Frey Racing Ferrari running fourth and fifth.

After the first mandatory pit stop, Vermeulen, who had switched to the Pirelli slicks earlier than his two rivals at the front of the field, dropped back to third. The leading pair of Aitken and Preining then produced a spectacular battle for the lead. However, the Briton was initially able to fend off any attacks.

The second tire change proved to be the decisive point: Preining's team performed a fast stop, sending him back out onto the track just behind Aitken. The Austrian wasted little time in passing Aitken, and went on to take the checkered flag after 64 laps of racing.

"I had good speed, but Thomas was always pretty close to me. Unfortunately, after the second pit stop I was unable to hold him off on cold tires," Aitken said. "I would have liked to have won, but second place is still a super result."

Behind Aitken and Vermeulen, Mercedes-AMG driver Maro Engel (Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing) took fourth place after a clever tactical display. He was followed home in fifth by Maini, who claimed the best DTM result so far for the new Ford Mustang GT3.

Green achieved his best result of the season in sixth place, ahead of René Rast (Bregenz/Schubert Motorsport) in his BMW M4 GT3 Evo. Lucas Auer (Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf) climbed six places after an impressive fightback in his Mercedes-AMG GT3. Eight place was good enough for him to defend his championship lead ahead of his compatriot Preining. Saturday's winner Jordan Pepper (TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT) had to settle for ninth place in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2, meaning he ends the first half of the season in third place in the table. Tenth place went to Jules Gounon from Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter.

If you missed this morning's live broadcast, Race 2 replays tonight on RACER Network at 9:00pm ET.

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