Thomas Preining wins DTM Norisring with ankle injury

Driver Thomas Preining secured his third victory at the Norisring DTM — though his celebration appeared different from usual due to injury.

The Manthey EMA racer suffered an ankle injury while running in the woods three weeks ago. “This injury hasn’t fully healed, and I had to race without air conditioning,” he told ran.de.

The decision to forgo air conditioning was made to save engine power while battling Jack Aitken’s Ferrari. Preining was particularly careful with regulations after the race — refusing a drink bottle from mechanics and heading straight to the weighing area.

“The drink bottle officially isn’t part of the car. So it must be removed for weighing. But you still carry its weight throughout the race. You need to ensure keeping it for weighing,” Preining explained.

The defending DTM champion now trails points leader Lucas Auer by seven points. Meanwhile, Jack Aitken also showed signs of exhaustion post-race — clutching an ice pack he referred to as his “new best friend”.