Thomas Preining took his second win of the year at a wet Red Bull Ring in DTM, putting himself into title contention with just two races remaining.
Preining started eighth but had pace on his rivals, moving through the field quickly as others slipped up on the wet, but drying, track. He pitted late from the lead but was able to come out ahead of leading pitstopper Luca Stolz. Preining then pulled away from Stolz, finishing over five seconds to the good.
With Stolz second, polesitter Maro Engel finished third. The wet tyres he started on dried out quickly, and he got caught by Preining amongst others. He pitted and put on slick tyres, a gamble but one which would pay off.
He slipped back out of the points after the stop, but as the track got increasing dry he found pace over his rivals on wets, overtaking the drivers he’d previously been overtaken by to take third at the flag.
Arjun Maini finished fourth after doing the same strategy as Engel. The Indian led for a while before the stops after overtaking Engel but he also slipped back on slicks, but was able to regain the positions he lost with a late surge thanks to the slick tyres.
Philipp Eng finished fifth with Lucas Auer sixth, another slick tyre-shod car. He pitted early and put slicks on, which only started working late on, allowing him to vault himself into the points.
Maximilian Gotz finished seventh, with Nico Muller eighth and championship contender Mirko Bortolotti ninth, taking home two points on a day many rivals failed to score. Dennis Olsen rounded out the top 10.
Primary championship challengers Rene Rast finished 11th after the wet tyres he got at the pitstop dried out prematurely. He sat fifth, behind Olsen in fourth, but the slick tyre cars managed to get by and both slipped back.
Championship leader Sheldon van der Linde finished 12th and out of the points after a spin on the first lap, relegating him to the back of the field, culminating in a pointless weekend for the South African. He leads the championship by 11 points over Auer, with Rast, Preining, and Bortolotti also harbouring title hopes.
