– Did the Porsche top team Manthey want to gain a tire advantage after Thomas Preining’s Saturday victory in Oschersleben? After a similar suspicion arose with the BMW team Schubert at the Norisring, Preining complained that on Saturday the access road to the podium ceremony, held for the first time in the fan area, was not clean and the tires were damaged.
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“Maybe you could sweep a little together, because yesterday we had two tire damages due to the podium,” complained the “Grello” driver, who basically sees the idea positively for the fans. As Motorsport-Total.com has researched, there were indeed discussions on Saturday between Manthey and the DTM officials about the tires.
Because due to the new procedure with the podium ceremony in the fan area, the drivers were first led through the pit lane after the cool-down lap and then drove over an access road, which was also used by fans, to the new parc fermé located directly next to the podium ceremony.
Manthey complaint to the regulators
This asphalted path was swept by hand by the track staff before the end of the race. Nevertheless, Manthey subsequently complained – as is heard – to the officials and approached the regulator DMSB (German Motor Sport Federation).
There was apparently suspicion that the Porsche team was aiming for a new set of tires, as the fault was not in the team’s area. However, whether this was really Manthey’s goal cannot be verified. This is because the team “would like to refrain from details,” as a Manthey spokeswoman told Motorsport-Total.com.
The fact is that Manthey actually reported two damaged tires to the DMSB. Since the Technical Delegate confirmed the damages, Manthey was allowed to replace the two affected tires on Preining with tires from free practice.
Was it really due to the dirty access road?
According to the DMSB, however, the damages resembled those that occurred on many vehicles in Oschersleben – presumably due to the high curbs. They would look different if they had been caused by slow driving through dirt.
But how did the dirty access road affect the tires of Luca Engstler and Maro Engel, who finished second and third? “Damage would be an exaggeration,” an Abt spokesman said. “More like rough pressure marks, but no severe damage.”
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And according to the Winward team, there was no damage at all to Engel’s tires. However, the tires were heavily soiled, for example by cigarette butts lying on the ground. The officials reacted accordingly and had the sweeper drive over the access road before the podium ceremony on Sunday. (SPONSORED LINK: Get tickets now for the 2026 DTM season!)
Why a new set of tires is so attractive
But why is it so attractive to bring a new set of tires into the race day quota? This is because each driver in Oschersleben, at the Nürburgring, at the Norisring, and at the Lausitzring receives only three sets of tires for both race days and thus has to contest two qualifying sessions and two races, while on other weekends four sets are available.
As a result, the tires are already in poor condition on Sunday. How big the advantage is is also shown by the case of Nicki Thiim; the Aston Martin driver received a completely new set as compensation for the Pirelli mistake during Saturday qualifying, when the Italians mounted his tires on the wrong rims, and drove the fastest race lap on Sunday with it.
Schubert attempt thwarted at the Norisring
The Schubert team almost succeeded – as Motorsport-Total.com already reported – at the Norisring with Marco Wittmann in bringing a nearly new set of tires into the quota. The Franconian waived a qualifying simulation in free practice on Friday and only drove one lap with the new set.
After Saturday, the BMW team wanted to swap a complete set due to alleged damage with the used set from free practice. The regulations generally allow this, as otherwise there is a risk that some drivers might not be able to participate in the Sunday race due to the two mandatory pit stops.
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However, the Technical Delegate thwarted the plan and decided that two of the four tires were not damaged enough to justify a swap, so only two tires were allowed to be changed. This possibly set an important precedent, because otherwise other teams might have also skipped qualifying simulations on Friday to gain a tire advantage in the race.
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