Porsche manufacturing unit driver Thomas Preining has revealed he thought twice about leaving his employer due to the DTM and virtually cried when signing his first Porsche contract.
Preining is now a longtime determine within the DTM; the Austrian driver received the 2023 title within the ‘Grello’ Porsche and has impressed since his collection debut in 2022 with aggressive, daring driving.
However few folks know that the 27-year-old critically thought of strolling away from his Porsche contract within the late 2010s to race within the Class 1 period of the DTM.
Talking on the Over the Restrict podcast with Laurens and Dries Vanthoor, Preining recalled how tough it was to decide to Porsche again in 2017. At the moment, Porsche was not collaborating within the DTM, and he feared he was giving up his shot at Germany’s premier touring automobile collection.
“I at all times watched [the DTM]. And for me, I used to be actually struggling to signal my Porsche Junior contract, regardless that I knew the possibility to even proceed racing on any stage might be 1% if I do not signal it,” he mentioned.
“I knew that is me giving up the DTM for the long run as a result of again then Porsche was not in DTM. So I used to be virtually crying in Dr. Walliser’s workplace once I signed. All of it turned out effectively.”
Preining mentioned that was not the one time he questioned his future with Porsche.
“After I completed the junior programme and had the possibility to turn into a manufacturing unit driver, I virtually left Porsche once more due to the DTM,” he defined. “I had an opportunity to change to the DTM throughout the Class 1 period. However that challenge didn’t appear like an honest medium- or long-term resolution.”
Paul Di Resta, R-Motorsport, Aston Martin Vantage AMR
Photograph by: Alexander Trienitz
Why it could possibly solely be the R-Motorsport Aston challenge
Preining didn’t title the crew concerned, however the context strongly suggests he was referring to the Aston Martin Class 1 challenge run by R-Motorsport, which briefly stuffed the hole in 2019 after Mercedes-AMG’s exit from the DTM.
Preining examined a Mercedes C63 DTM on the collection’ young-driver take a look at at Jerez in December 2018, driving for HWA alongside Ferdinand Habsburg, Jake Dennis and Jake Hughes. Daniel Juncadella served because the reference driver at the moment.
Juncadella, Habsburg and Dennis, together with Paul di Resta, fashioned the driving force line-up for the Aston Martin challenge in 2019, with HWA answerable for its DTM operations.
Preining, then 20 years outdated and whose junior contract ran till the top of 2018, as an alternative competed as a “Younger Skilled” for Porsche crew Herberth Motorsport within the ADAC GT Masters in 2019, the place he received on his maiden weekend.
In hindsight, staying with Porsche labored out effectively for Preining. R-Motorsport withdrew from DTM after one tough season, because it struggled to battle Audi and BMW resulting from monetary causes.
The manufacturer-heavy days of the DTM additionally ended only a yr later, with the collection adopting the customer-focused GT3 method in 2021.
This opened the door for Porsche to affix the DTM, coinciding with Preining’s promotion to manufacturing unit standing.
“As issues turned out a few years later, they modified the laws for DTM,” he mentioned. “You should use GT automobiles. And within the first season, Porsche was not there. However I used to be calling them each week if there’s any means one thing might occur. And it did. So I used to be actually completely happy about that.”
Porsche lastly entered the DTM in 2022 with the Bernhard crew and SSR Efficiency – and after a tough begin to the season on the Norisring, Preining secured the German model’s first race victory that yr.
His maiden drivers’ title adopted in 2023, with Manthey EMA, and he has remained a constant frontrunner within the collection since then.
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