A chaotic tyre gamble defined Saturday’s qualifying for the DTM season finale at Hockenheim. With the track wet at the outset, drivers initially set times on wet tyres before switching to slicks—a move that backfired as the rubber failed to generate temperature in the cool, twelve-degree conditions, forcing teams to revert back to wets. Amid the strategic turmoil, Abt-Lamborghini driver Luca Engstler delivered the session’s biggest surprise, seizing his maiden DTM pole position with a 1:47.048.
“Awesome!” the Lamborghini youngster told ran.de, beaming after securing the first pole of his DTM career. “That was the one thing still missing after my two wins.” Landgraf-Mercedes pilot Lucas Auer slotted into second, 0.407 seconds adrift, nailing his best lap at the death. The Austrian, who needs errors from the title protagonists to stay in contention, trimmed his championship deficit to 44 points with 53 still available. Unlike 2023, when he entered the finale as favourite, Auer projects calm. “This year there is nothing to calculate. I have to win—and that is what I will try to do,” he stated with quiet determination.
Championship leader and title favourite Thomas Preining secured a valuable point in third, +0.459s off the pace, despite having his final flying lap deleted for track limits. His 1:47.318 would have placed him second on the grid. The Manthey Porsche driver produced a composed performance even as his initial strategy faltered. After an opening run on wets, Preining switched to slicks but, like his rivals, could not switch them on. When the team bolted on wets again in the closing minutes, the slicks were stone cold.
Abt driver Luca Engstler took his first pole in DTM
Foto: ADAC Motorsport
A victory this afternoon would crown Preining champion with a race to spare. “I have been racing in the DTM for five years now, I have won ten races—that shows how difficult it is,” Preining told ran.de, refusing to underestimate the task. He anticipates a dry race. “So it will be a pure pace race. Let’s see where we stand. But fundamentally, P3 is a great starting position. Hopefully we can make something of it.”
Engel seventh: “There really wasn’t much more in it”
Thierry Vermeulen claimed fourth for Emil Frey Ferrari, +0.663s, confirming his fitness after a celebration injury in Barcelona last week. Preining’s teammate Ricardo Feller completed the top five, +0.747s. In the title fight, Maro Engel could only manage seventh in the Winward Mercedes, 0.939s off the pace, after committing fully to slicks early on. The 41-year-old now trails Preining by 24 points.
“There really wasn’t much more in it,” Engel told ran.de. “We were in a good position. The strategy worked out well, the right tyre, but I simply didn’t have any more grip. I have to look at it again and analyse whether it might have been the tyre pressure—or what it was.” Despite starting behind his rival, Engel remains defiant: “A lot can happen here.”
Wittmann laments: “The worst conditions for the BMW”
Engel is unlikely to receive assistance from teammate Jules Gounon, who endured a nightmare session to finish 20th, 4.989s off the pace. Marco Wittmann fared little better in the Schubert BMW, qualifying 11th and 1.381s adrift. The two-time champion mirrored Engel’s slick gamble before switching to wets late on. Preining’s third place extends Wittmann’s deficit to 25 points.
Was the strategy flawed? “I don’t think it made any difference in the end,” Wittmann told ran.de. “Kelvin ran the other strategy and started on the wet tyre—and in the end we are 11th and 12th. They are simply the worst conditions for us with the BMW—in these half-wet conditions with the wet tyre.” Wittmann believes an extra five minutes would have brought the slicks into their window, and now vows to throw everything at finishing ahead of Preining to keep his title hopes alive.
Cairoli and Thiim miss top ten
Title outsiders Matteo Cairoli and Nicki Thiim failed to feature at the sharp end. The Emil Frey Ferrari driver qualified 13th, 1.462s back, while the Comtoyou Aston Martin pilot could only manage 15th, 1.857s off. Their championship hopes now rest on Preining retiring in Saturday’s 13:30 local time start. Yet the coronation may arrive this very afternoon—Preining could clinch his second DTM crown at Hockenheim, repeating his 2023 triumph.
