At Oschersleben

Defending champion Preining tenth in DTM season opener

Thomas Preining failed to achieve a top position in the season opener of the German Touring Car Masters (DTM) at Oschersleben on Saturday. The 25-year-old from Upper Austria and reigning DTM champion failed to qualify in 16th place and was only able to work his way up to tenth. The best Austrian was Lucas Auer in sixth place in the Mercedes. The first winner of the season, after a dramatic finish including the retirement of leader Marco Wittmann (GER), was Briton Jack Aitken in a Ferrari.

It was the second victory in the British driver's career, ahead of Mirko Bortolotti (ITA/Lamborghini) and Ricardo Feller (SUI/Audi). "It's a bit surprising, I had already resigned myself to second place," said Aitken, a man with Formula 1 experience. "I'm sorry for Marco. He had a lucky strategy. Then luck came back to us," he said on Pro7.

Wittmann was initially catapulted to the front from 19th on the grid thanks to a very favorable pit stop in the middle of a "full-course yellow" phase. He held the lead until just under five minutes before the end, before a technical problem with the fuel supply dropped him back to 18th place.

"We currently have a question mark" 
Preining's first thought in his race analysis was for Wittmann: "I feel sorry for Marco. For us, tenth place is like a victory, we gained five positions in the pits alone," said the Upper Austrian. "Hopefully we'll be further up the field tomorrow." Preining did not yet know what was wrong with the car. "We currently have a question mark."

Clemens Schmid was the third Austrian to finish in the points in 15th place.