DTM | 2026 Oschersleben | Qualifying 2 | Preining claims back-to-back pole starts

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Thomas Preining continued his dominant DTM weekend at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben by securing pole position in Qualifying 2. The Manthey Porsche driver set a 1:22.400 to beat Luca Engstler by 0.105 seconds and complete a clean sweep of the weekend’s qualifying sessions.

Marco Wittmann qualified third for Schubert Motorsport, while Arjun Maini and championship leader Maro Engel completed the top five.

Preining continues Oschersleben dominance.

The drivers faced good conditions and an air temperature of approximately 24°C during the 20-minute Qualifying 2 session. As in Saturday’s qualifying, the field waited for the tyres to reach their optimal working range before beginning the decisive runs.

Several drivers exchanged the fastest time as the pace improved, but Preining eventually moved to the top with a 1:22.400. The Austrian had already topped both free practice sessions, claimed pole for Race 1 and converted it into victory before taking control of Sunday morning’s qualifying.

His Qualifying 2 time remained approximately half a second slower than his Saturday pole lap, but no other driver could displace him during the final attempts. Preining therefore secured his second pole position of the weekend and earned three more championship points.

Engstler secures another front-row start

Engstler produced a late improvement to take second place in the Red Bull Team Abt Lamborghini. He completed his fastest lap during the final moments of the session and moved ahead of Wittmann and Maini.

The German finished only 0.105 seconds behind Preining, securing his second front-row start of the weekend. He had also started Race 1 alongside the Porsche driver before finishing second and claiming his first podium of the season.

Wittmann placed the Schubert Motorsport BMW third with a 1:22.550. The two-time DTM champion finished 0.150 seconds away from pole and delivered a strong result for the Oschersleben-based team after retiring from Saturday’s race.

Maini and Engel complete the top five

Maini qualified fourth in the HRT Ford Mustang GT3, finishing 0.222 seconds behind Preining. The Indian driver secured a place on the second row and led Ford’s challenge ahead of Race 2.

Engel followed in fifth as the highest-placed Mercedes-AMG driver. The championship leader ended the session 0.244 seconds behind pole and remained within striking distance of the leading group.

Mirko Bortolotti took sixth in the second Lamborghini Temerario GT3, ahead of Kelvin van der Linde’s BMW and Matteo Cairoli’s Ferrari. Ricardo Feller qualified ninth in the second Manthey Porsche, while Jules Gounon completed the top ten for Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol.

Only 0.344 seconds separated Preining from Gounon, highlighting the small margins throughout the field.

Auer suffers costly off-track moment

Lucas Auer endured a difficult session after sliding off the circuit at Turn 2 during one of his fastest laps. The Mercedes-AMG driver collected dirt on his tyres and also brought gravel onto the racing line, affecting several drivers behind him.

Auer could not produce a sufficiently competitive lap after the incident and finished 17th, 0.568 seconds behind Preining. However, Ben Dörr’s three-place grid penalty moved Auer forward to 16th on the Race 2 grid.

Van der Linde also lost a potential improvement after aborting a lap because of the incident, although the Schubert Motorsport driver still recovered to qualify seventh.

Thiim faces another recovery drive

Nicki Thiim struggled for pace once again and qualified 19th in the Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin. The Dane finished 0.773 seconds behind pole and faced another recovery drive after starting Saturday’s race from 18th.

Thiim moved up one position following Dörr’s penalty, while teammate Nicolas Baert remained at the back of the grid after qualifying 20th.

Preining entered Race 2 from pole with 20 kilograms of success ballast following his Saturday victory. The Sunday race also featured two mandatory pit stops, adding another strategic challenge as the Porsche driver attempted to complete a dominant Oschersleben weekend.