– How serious was the retirement threat from ex-champion Thomas Preining during the Norisring weekend really? The Manthey Porsche driver criticized the Balance of Performance (BoP) in the DTM after the disappointing Saturday race in Nuremberg and said in an interview with Motorsport-Total.com, “I am really close to saying: This is no longer worth it, I’m quitting.”
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Three weeks later, the 28-year-old dominated in Oschersleben, securing two poles and nearly two wins, if the last stop hadn’t gone wrong. But how does he see his statements today? “In general, that was of course in the heat of the moment,” says the Austrian.
“That was a very frustrating time for me – not only at the Norisring, but also at the races before, where we really didn’t perform as well as we probably should have. I was naturally frustrated, but at that moment and in the following weeks during the summer, I spent a lot of time thinking about what the right steps for my future are.”
Preining: Porsche factory contract expires at the end of the season
The fact is that Preining’s Porsche contract expires at the end of the year after two years, and his future is not yet decided. What does it look like in this regard? “I haven’t made a decision yet,” the Austrian clarifies, who worked his way up as a Porsche junior and is one of the few GT3 drivers with a factory contract at the Volkswagen brand.
“I mean, I will definitely stay loyal to motorsport for a few more years,” Preining rules out a complete retirement for now. “I’m not hanging up my boots yet, but as a factory driver, it’s not always entirely up to me which program I complete and so on.”
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Nevertheless, Preining, who won his first 24-hour race this year at Spa-Francorchamps, makes it clear that his love for the DTM has not completely cooled. “Of course I love the DTM,” he says. “It’s my favorite championship, and I would like to stay, but that’s not always 100 percent in my hands.” (SPONSORED LINK: Get tickets now for the 2026 DTM season!)
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Bortolotti warns of Preining retirement: “Then the DTM is dead”
Aside from that, it also matters for DTM specialist Preining, who apart from the opening win in Spielberg did not get better than seventh place in Zandvoort until Oschersleben, whether he is competitive. “As I said at the Norisring, it didn’t make much sense to race back then, but the way things went afterwards, it’s completely different now. So it’s an up and down.”
While Aston Martin driver Nicki Thiim joked about Preining’s dominance in Oschersleben and said he would now also threaten to retire, Bortolotti calls on former DTM title rival Preining to definitely continue his career in the traditional series.
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“I hope Thomas doesn’t quit,” says the Italian, who has often expressed great respect for Preining himself. “We need him in the DTM. If we lose drivers like Thomas and other drivers who start saying they’re quitting, then the DTM is dead.”
Is Preining fully involved in the title fight? “Not yet …”
Before the Manthey home race at the Nürburgring – and thus six races before the end – Preining is fourth in the overall standings, 28 points behind DTM leader Maro Engel. Will he be fully involved again after Oschersleben? “Not yet,” he answers.
“The leader has built up quite a lead while we had problems in the early phase of the season. So we are still catching up, but if we have another weekend like Oschersleben, that would really increase our chances of reducing the gap,” says Preining. The first DTM win for Manthey at the Nürburgring is therefore the declared goal.
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