Thomas Preining has been crowned 2026 DTM champion, securing his second drivers' title after a third-place finish in a tense season finale at the Hockenheimring. The Porsche factory driver, racing for the Manthey customer team, needed only a strong result to seal the championship and delivered under pressure in front of 112,000 spectators over the race weekend.

The 28-year-old Austrian entered the final race with a 20-point lead and lived up to his favorite status despite starting seventh. Preining fought his way to fourth on an eventful opening lap, then benefited from two swift Manthey pit stops that vaulted him into second. In a show of team spirit on the final lap, he handed that position to teammate Ricardo Feller, settling for third himself — more than enough to clinch the title.

Preining becomes the third former Porsche Junior driver to win the DTM crown in four seasons, succeeding 2025 champion Ayhancan Güven of Turkey, with his own first title having come in 2023. "Our former Porsche Juniors have won three titles in four years. That's absolutely impressive," said Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport, praising Manthey Racing's achievement and crediting Feller's support as well as Team Land Motorsport's breakout season with Bastian Buus.

The result also gave Manthey its third team championship in four years, a point celebrated by Managing Director Nicolas Raeder, who called the team's consistent success proof it wasn't down to luck but to a "perfect team effort."

Feller's second-place finish marked his best result of the season, while Buus, who started from his first career pole position, led much of the race before fading to fourth — still his best finish of the year as a rookie with Team Land Motorsport.

Preining reflected on the mentally exhausting weekend, admitting the long wait between qualifying and the race had been nerve-wracking. He said he planned to savor this title more than his first, when the celebrations had passed by in a blur. Feller said finishing on the podium alongside his teammate, while also securing the team title, capped a satisfying day, adding that his on-track battle with Buus had been hard-fought but fair. Buus, despite missing the podium, called it a great weekend overall and congratulated Porsche, Preining and Manthey on their championship success.

Source: Porsche Newsroom

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