DTM newcomer Laurin Heinrich climbed the podium for the first time on the fourth race weekend of the season. In Sunday’s rainy race, the Team75 Motorsport driver clinched second place at the wheel of his Porsche 911 GT3 R on the Nürburgring sprint circuit. His Porsche colleague Thomas Preining also scored a podium spot with third place on Saturday. Witnessed by almost 50,000 spectators, Porsche extended its lead in the manufacturers’ classification after eight of 16 rounds. Thomas Preining ranks first in the drivers’ classification and Manthey EMA leads the team classification.

Putting in a flawless drive in rainy conditions on Sunday, Laurin Heinrich advanced through the field from eleventh on the grid to second place. For the 21-year-old from the Team75 Motorsport squad, this was his best result to date and the first podium result of his fledgling DTM career. “I am over the moon that Laurin’s luck has changed. He drove a brilliant race today under very difficult conditions,” said Team75 Motorsport owner and Porsche brand ambassador Timo Bernhard in praise of the former Porsche Junior. “Laurin implemented our strategy perfectly and definitely deserves this success.”

Sebastian Golz, Project Manager 911 GT3 R: “From Porsche’s point of view, it was a very successful weekend here at the Nürburgring. We succeeded in extending our lead in all three championship classifications. I’m especially pleased that our young drivers in particular are finding their feet. As a case in point, look at Laurin Heinrich’s podium result in these extremely difficult weather conditions. Tim Heinemann’s performance, especially in the first half of Sunday's race, is also worthy of praise.”

In terms of his title ambitions, Thomas Preining also experienced a successful weekend in Germany’s Eifel region. Taking up Sunday’s race from 16th place after bad luck in qualifying, the Austrian still managed to finish fifth – further extending his lead in the drivers’ championship. For his Manthey EMA teammate Dennis Olson, the second Nürburgring race came to an early end after a first-lap collision.

Tim Heinemann advanced to second place in the first half of Sunday’s race. After his mandatory pit stop, the 25-year-old from the Toksport WRT team could not quite match his initial pace and wrapped up the race in twelfth place.

Typical Eifel weather made for changeable conditions on Saturday
On Saturday, Thomas Preining climbed the podium in third place, with Dennis Olsen crossing the finish line in fifth. After starting in the dry, rain showers made the conditions difficult, however, the two Manthey EMA drivers remained unflustered. Securing 14th place, Tim Heinemann scored his first points since the season opener in Oschersleben, where he finished both races in second place. Laurin Heinrich (Team75 Motorsport) finished in P19 and outside the points. For Christian Engelhart (Toksport WRT) and Ayhancan Güven (Team75 Motorsport), Saturday’s race came to an early end when Engelhart’s car slid into the rear of fellow brand colleague Güven’s car while braking for the first corner. While both drivers remained uninjured, the damage to their race cars prevented them from competing on Sunday.

Comments on the Nürburgring race weekend
Laurin Heinrich (Team75 Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R #75): “I'm over the moon about my first podium result on just the fourth DTM race weekend of my career. The paradox is that after a full course yellow cost me a good result during the pit stop window on Saturday, I was able to benefit from exactly the same situation today – so justice was done. Because we could only field one car today, my result today is a small compensation for the team.”

Thomas Preining (Manthey EMA, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91): “That was a great weekend for us, despite not being able to bring home the much-hoped-for win at our home race. A podium is always nice, but the champagne shower wasn’t quite as much fun as usual in the cool temperatures. On Sunday morning, I struck a bit of bad luck with slower traffic in qualifying, so I was only able to start from 16th. We also sustained slight damage after a collision at the start. But thanks to our excellent teamwork, I moved up to fifth place and scored more important points.”

Tim Heinemann (Toksport WRT, Porsche 911 GT3 R #9): “After a great qualifying and an even better start, twelfth place is of course a bit sobering – we had good chances of a podium result. Towards the end of the race, however, I didn’t manage to match the pace of the others and pretty much had no chance. All in all, we’re satisfied with this weekend: we made the most of our opportunities on both days. After two DTM weekends without a championship point, we finished in the points twice, which is a small success. Now we have to keep it up so that we can race among the frontrunners again in the next races at the Lausitzring.”

Result race 7:
1. Mirko Bortolotti (I), Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO 2 #92, 39 laps
2. Lucas Auer (A), Mercedes-AMG GT3 #22, +1.199 seconds
3. Thomas Preining (A), Porsche 911 GT3 R #91, +2.572 seconds
5. Dennis Olsen (N), Porsche 911 GT3 R #90, +4.327 seconds
14. Tim Heinemann (D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #9, +17.531 seconds
19. Laurin Heinrich (D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #75, +20.504 seconds
DNF Ayhancan Güven (TR), Porsche 911 GT3 R #24, +21 laps
DNF Christian Engelhart (D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #99, +21 laps

Result race 8:
1. Maximilian Paul (D), Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO 2 #19, 35 laps
2. Laurin Heinrich (D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #75, +0.600 seconds
3. Lucas Auer (A), Mercedes-AMG GT3 #22, +1.320 seconds
5. Thomas Preining (A), Porsche 911 GT3 R #91, +3.248 seconds
12. Tim Heinemann (D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #9, +10.327 seconds
DNF Dennis Olsen (N), Porsche 911 GT3 R #90, +33 laps

Drivers’ standings after 8 of 16 races:
1. Thomas Preining (A/Manthey EMA/Porsche), 117 points
2. Sheldon van der Linde (RSA/Schubert Motorsport/BMW), 89 points
3. Mirko Bortolotti (I/SSR Performance/Lamborghini), 88 points
8. Dennis Olsen (N/Manthey EMA/Porsche), 63 points
10. Laurin Heinrich (D/Team75 Motorsport/Porsche), 51 points
11. Tim Heinemann (D/Toksport WRT/Porsche), 48 points
14. Christian Engelhart (D/Toksport WRT/Porsche), 36 points
15. Ayhancan Güven (TR/ Team75 Motorsport/Porsche), 32 points

Team standings after 8 of 16 races:
1. Manthey EMA (Porsche), 169 points
2. SSR Performance (Lamborghini), 147 points
3. Schubert Motorsport (BMW), 139 points
6. Toksport WRT (Porsche), 82 points
7. Team75 Motorsport (Porsche), 82 points

Manufacturer standings after 8 of 16 races:
1. Porsche, 238 points
2. Lamborghini, 203 points
3. Mercedes-AMG, 188 points
4. BMW, 187 points
5. Audi, 156 points
6. Ferrari, 83 points

Full results: www.dtm.com/en/results