In Saturday’s DTM race at the Sachsenring, Manthey-Porsche driver Thomas Preining collided in the battle for the lead. In Sunday’s DTM race, he did it again. After Saturday’s crash, the Austrian called himself an "idiot" but his review of the collision with Jack Aitken on Sunday left him with a very different opinion of events.
"Jack made a small mistake in the last sector, then I was close and tried it in the first corner," Preining explained, offering his perspective of how the crash played out. "I went to the inside, with the late braking point, and he knows that once you brake late, you can't get out of the move anymore."
The Emil Frey Ferrari driver tried to defend the Austrian's attack, however, by moving to the inside. "He simply left me no room at the entry," criticised Preining, who also knew that his rival was within his rights in that situation. "He doesn't have to, it's his corner," he added.
"In that case, it would have been smarter, because his race was over anyway and I got a penalty that was simply unnecessary," recalled an unconvinced Preining, who in the end only finished eleventh. "He paid a heavy price himself."
"He saw me, I know that because he reacted to me," the 2023 DTM champion added when speaking to ran.de. "Sure, I wasn't in front or completely alongside, but in the end, as soon as I get alongside on the brakes, I'm in ABS and can't get out of the move anymore. That has worked hundreds of times."
But this didn’t work out on Sunday as his rival hadn't "left space when they saw that I couldn't get out anymore," the Porsche factory driver added.
"I'm shocked and disappointed,” he concluded. “It should have been a great weekend. I'm just pissed off."
Preining finds penalty 'obviously unfair'
Race director Sven Stoppe, however, made it clear that Preining was fully at fault for the incident as the Austrian was not alongside Aitken's car and hit him at the rear - unlike the day before with Jordan Pepper, when he was at the side. Therefore, as is customary for such offences, he was handed three penalty laps.
Race control decided on the penalty early, but deliberately only announced it after the safety car phase - as it feared that teams might react and adjust their strategies during this phase. But, was the penalty justified?
"There are people who get paid to be able and allowed to judge that," said Preining. "I'm not one of them. So, I'm definitely the wrong person, and I'm also not objective enough, I think. But of course, logically, I find it unfair."
To try and get to the bottom of the penalty, Preining said he had hoped to speak with Aitken about what transpired on track. However, the Brit wasn’t interested and brushed him off once the chequered flag fell.
"I wanted to discuss it like adults and exchange opinions," the Porsche driver added. "He wasn't open to it, but what can I do."
Emil Frey weighs in on “unnecessary” crash
Emil Frey’s Aitken sees the situation differently, however.
"It felt like Thomas was coming quite late to change to the inside, which is the move that he loves to do, and I was trying to defend already," Aitken said – denying that he had shut the door too late on the Porsche driver. "It felt like he just hit me from behind."
"From that point there was not a lot I could do, and we were stuck in the gravel,” complained the polesitter, who was hoping to extend his championship lead in Sunday’s race.
"So, it's really a shame, because we had good pace. It's very disappointing. I don't have a huge amount more to say about it for now."
Emil Frey technical director Jurg Flach shared a similar view, arguing that Preining was “too far back” to make the move successfully.
"For me, of course, he was overly optimistic," said Flach. "In my opinion unnecessary. He risks his race, he risks our race. He was too far back."
The Swiss engineer also argued the case for his racer’s driving in the build up to the incident, and claims that Aitken didn’t need to leave room.
"He doesn't have to, because he was behind," Flach told Motorsport.com. "He only has to leave him room if he's more than halfway alongside. He was nowhere near that."
"He wanted to gain an advantage, but they were fast anyway. I think it would have been better to wait, and then make a proper move later in the race," Flach continued. "I believe he was stronger today. I'm sure of that."
The penalty didn’t match the crime
What’s more, Emil Frey argued that the penalty that Preining received for the contact also didn’t go far enough.
"Sometimes there are three penalty laps if someone just lightly touches or nudges another car. Then maybe he goes a bit off the track," Flach recalled. "And in this case, he completely took him out of the race. And it's also three penalty laps, and in the end, he still gets six points."
As a result of the crash and the subsequent penalty, Preining crossed the line in eleventh despite his action, while Aitken was left with no points. The result means that the Brit dropped to second place in the standings - two points behind leader Lucas Auer.
"Yeah, it's still tight," Aitken said. "Red Bull Ring was usually not our best track, so we need to try and do a good effort there. And we see how it goes in Hockenheim. That's all we can do."
Aitken summarised after the race on Sunday. With four races to go and Aitken still firmly in the DTM title fight, only time will tell how costly the collision with Preining could prove to be.
