Following the spectacular DTM race weekend at Norisring powered by BMW M, it is half-time in the 2022 DTM. Time for a brief break until the second half of the season gets underway in the Eifel with DTM Nürburgring powered by Mercedes-AMG (26-28 August). Then, the action continues in a fortnightly rhythm with DTM Spa-Francorchamps (9-11 September), DTM Red Bull Ring powered by Remus (23-25 September) and the season finale DTM Hockenheimring (7-9 October).

At the halfway point of the season, DTM.com asked all the drivers from the world class field of the long-standing series how things have been going so far from their perspective, what the challenges are for them, which ups and downs they experienced, what the challenges are for them, and what their feeling is going into the second half of the season. The first to respond is Austrian Thomas Preining, who scored the maiden DTM win with the KÜS Team Bernhard Porsche 911 at Norisring.

At Imola, Preining scored his first points for the drivers’ standings, just missing out on the podium by finishing fourth. At Norisring, he collected the maiden win on Saturday, not just for himself, but also for Porsche and his KÜS Team Bernhard. Moreover, he secured the additional point for the Autohero Fastest Lap Award. After four of the season’s eight race weekends, Preining is tenth in the drivers’ standings with a total of 43 points. KÜS Team Bernhard is in twelfth place of the teams’ standings.

Thomas Preining: “The start of the season was a bit patchy. We didn’t score any points in the first two weekends, which wasn’t ideal, of course, but from then on, it went steeply upwards. Initially, we as a team and I as a driver certainly had difficulties with the situation of having just one car and one driver in the team. But then, we found certain ways to solve this, ways that made our work easier. Thankfully, we were able to maximise everything prior to the third round at Imola and really used our potential for one hundred percent.”

“The last two weekends were super”

“And the last two weekends were super. Of course, crowning it at Norisring with the first-ever win for Porsche in DTM history was really special and very nice. Therefore, the feeling we have going into the summer break and the second half of the season is absolutely positive. We know what we have to do and we know how to implement it all. Now, we are really confident that it will continue in a positive and successful way.”

“The next round at Nürburgring certainly suits us as a manufacturer and I as a driver particularly enjoy racing there. Therefore, I am confident that things will be going well there again.”