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Thomas Preining expressed disappointment after finishing 13th in the DTM race in Spielberg, following his victory the previous day. He noted that the track conditions changed, impacting his performance.
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Thomas Preining endured a frustrating turnaround at the DTM opener in Spielberg, describing his Sunday performance as a âhuge disappointmentâ after winning the opening race just a day earlier.
The Manthey Racing Porsche driver followed up his Saturday victory with only 14th on the grid and 13th in the race, unable to replicate his earlier pace.
âOn the one hand itâs incredibly close, but on the other, the track suited us extremely well yesterday,â Preining told Motorsport.com's sister title Motorsport-Total.com. âToday the track was back to how it was on Friday â and that shows where we are.â
The key difference, according to the 27-year-old, was grip. âThere was much more grip yesterday,â he explained. âYou could already see in qualifying that we lost more compared to the competition than we did the day before. The track was probably two tenths faster.â
Preining believes this was partly due to rubber laid down by other series racing at the Red Bull Ring, including ADAC GT Masters, ADAC GT4 Germany, Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and Formula Regional European Championship.
However, the main issue was his starting position. âYesterday we were able to run our own race from the front,â Preining told ran.de. âThatâs where we can play to our strengths in the corners.
âBut when youâre stuck in the midfield, youâre always behind someone in the corners, and on the straights we donât have the performance to make up ground.â
The result saw the 2023 DTM champion lose the points lead to Maro Engel.
Sundayâs race, he admitted, was âa huge disappointment.â Starting from the midfield made overtaking extremely difficult, while leaving him vulnerable on the straights.
Qualifying proved decisive. According to Manthey race operations manager Patrick Arkenau, traffic played a significant role.
âThomas wasnât ideally positioned,â Arkenau explained, revealing that Preining had to abort two flying laps. âThat makes it difficult. Even with 20 cars itâs tricky, especially given our position in the pitlane.â
Thomas Preining described his Sunday performance as a 'huge disappointment' after finishing 13th in the race.
Preining won the opening race on Saturday but finished 13th on Sunday, unable to match his earlier pace.
Preining attributed his disappointing result to changing track conditions, stating that the track suited his car better on Saturday.
Thomas Preining drives for Manthey Racing in the DTM series.

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Manthey is located at the start of the pitlane, making it easier for rival teams to react to their track position. âThey moved out ahead of us, which isnât a criticism,â Arkenau said. âItâs a strategic tool and completely legitimate. But it makes things harder for us, because whatever we do, someone can always react.â
As a result, Preining was caught in traffic and unable to properly prepare his timed lap. âIt wasnât ideal, but we still need to analyse how big the effect really was,â Arkenau added.
Thomas Preining, Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R
Despite the external factors, Manthey acknowledged it also needed to look inward. âYesterday we maximised everything, today it was more difficult,â Arkenau said. âThatâs something we need to analyse. Itâs homework we have to take away.â
He dismissed the idea that Balance of Performance played a role, noting there had been no changes. He also pointed to a solid showing from Bastian Buus, who qualified sixth and finished 10th.
âThat shows it wasnât down to BoP,â Arkenau said. âIt was on us â we didnât manage to extract our performance.â
Only minor set-up changes were made compared to Saturday, making a fundamental setup error unlikely. âItâs sport,â he added. âEven at the highest level, you donât always perform the same on two different days.â
Attention now turns to the next round at Circuit Zandvoort, where tyre wear is expected to play a bigger role with the new Pirelli compound.
âWeâll really see when we get there,â Preining said cautiously.
âBut I think qualifying there could suit us, with a bit more grip from the new tyre,â he added, hoping for a stronger starting position to return to fighting at the front.
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