After the DTM weekend at the Sachsenring, the current DTM season has become truly exciting – because it is still wide open who will win the 2026 DTM drivers’ championship. Right in the mix are our KW Racing motorsport customers, who still have a realistic shot at the title.
In the 2026 DTM season, every Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, BMW M4 GT3 Evo, Lamborghini Temerario GT3 and Porsche 911 GT3 R is equipped with our KW Racing dampers.
On Saturday, Marco Wittmann celebrated his second win of the 2026 DTM season
Marco Wittmann in the Schubert BMW M4 GT3 Evo (#11) started from pole position at the Sachsenring on Saturday and took the victory. He held the lead after the start, pitted on lap 16 and regained the lead after a small mistake by Jules Gounon.
Marco Wittmann himself said that they may not have had the fastest car in the field, but thanks to the characteristics of the track they were able to stay out in front. His team-mate Kelvin van der Linde in the second Schubert BMW M4 GT3 Evo (#3) finished fourth at the Sachsenring, which is also known as the Nordschleife of eastern Germany.
Thomas Preining in the Manthey Grello (#91) dropped back to fourth at the start, but worked his way forward again during the race and finished third. The 2023 DTM champion thus stood on the podium for the fifth consecutive time this season.
His team-mate Ricardo Feller in the second Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R (#90) came home 13th, while Bastian Buus (Land Porsche 911 GT3 R) had to pit after an incident and later retired with a slow puncture.
In the Lamborghini Temerario GT3 class, Mirko Bortolotti of TGI Team by Grasser (#63) held on to seventh place against the Aston Martin (#7) of Comtoyou Racing driven by Nicki Thiim.
The two Abt Lamborghinis of Marco Mapelli (#10) and Luca Engstler (#130) were involved in a start-line accident and had to retire. Maximilian Paul in the second TGI Team by GRT Temerario (#19) also failed to reach the finish.
At the Comtoyou Aston Martin Vantage GT3, Nicki Thiim (#7) was involved in several duels and received a warning. He finished the Saturday race at the Sachsenring in eighth place. His team-mate Nicolas Baert (#8) was classified 16th.
Tire strategy decides the race on Sunday
The second DTM race at the Sachsenring began with a tricky tyre strategy call. Although the rain had already stopped and no further showers were expected, the track was drying only very slowly, as the morning qualifying session had shown.
Accordingly, the teams made different tyre choices: while polesitter Maro Engel (#80) and Grello driver Thomas Preining (#91) in the Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R started on slicks from the outset, the rest of the field initially opted for wet-weather tyres. Due to the dirty track, the start was delayed by a few minutes, prompting further teams to switch from wets to slicks.
In the end only six drivers, including Bastian Buus in the Land Porsche 911 GT3 R (#29) and Nicki Thiim in the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo (#7), started on wet tyres. This led to chaos: several spins and off-track excursions already occurred on the formation lap and at the start, followed later by heavy collisions and two late safety-car periods that completely shuffled the race order.
Bastian Buus (#29) charged from fifth on the grid into the lead and initially pulled away, while other drivers on wet tyres also gained positions. After only a few laps, however, the track had dried sufficiently for the slick runners to make up massive ground. The wet-tyre drivers were forced to pit early for a change.
Thomas Preining in the Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R (#91) drove a composed race to second place on Sunday and further extended his lead in the drivers’ championship. His team-mate Ricardo Feller in the second Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R (#90) finished third. Bastian Buus in the Land Porsche 911 GT3 R (#29) had briefly taken the lead after the start on wet tyres, but later dropped back and finished the race in ninth place.
Marco Wittmann brought the Schubert BMW M4 GT3 Evo (#11) home in sixth place. His team-mate Kelvin van der Linde (#3) ran in the front group for a long time but was taken out of the race shortly before the end and was only classified 18th.
Among the Lamborghini Temerario GT3s, Luca Engstler (#130) of Red Bull Team Abt finished eighth. Maximilian Paul (#19) of TGI Team by GRT came tenth, Mirko Bortolotti (#63, TGI Team by GRT) 13th and Marco Mapelli (#10, Red Bull Team Abt) 14th.
Neither of the Comtoyou Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evos saw the chequered flag: Nicki Thiim (who had also started on wet tyres) was involved in a heavy collision with Jules Gounon and retired, while Nicolas Baert also failed to finish.
KW Racing customer extends DTM lead
With his second-place finish, Thomas Preining (Porsche) extends his lead in the overall standings to 197 points. He heads into the season finale at Hockenheim with a 23-point advantage over Maro Engel (174 points) and a 24-point lead over Marco Wittmann (BMW, 173 points).
Thanks to his sixth place and Saturday’s victory, Marco Wittmann remains firmly in the title fight, while the Lamborghini and Aston Martin drivers have fallen back in the championship due to retirements and weaker results. At Hockenheim there are still 56 points available for a perfect race weekend.
Photos: Gruppe C Photography
