Klaus Weber · DTM Correspondent
Porsche wants to extend with the DTM champion, and Preining does too. Nothing has been signed yet.
Thomas Preining is the 2026 DTM champion, and his factory contract with Porsche expires at the end of the year. On the sidelines of the season finale at Hockenheim, Porsche motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach told a media round: “We would like to continue with him, that’s a clear statement.” Preining wants to stay as well. What’s missing is the signature.
Both sides want the same thing
According to Motorsport-Magazin.com, Laudenbach added: “If I’m allowed to make a wish, I would very much like to keep working with Tommy.” Talks have already taken place. “We have discussed various options,” he said, without specifying what those options are. After winning the title, Preining told the same outlet: “Of course I would basically very much like to continue the way we have so far.” He added: “That seems to be working quite well. We’re working on it.”
The timeline is in sight. Porsche traditionally presents the lineup and racing programs of its factory drivers at its Night of Champions in Weissach. According to Motorsport-Magazin.com, it is scheduled for December 5. By then at the latest, it should be clear where Preining will race in 2027.
The summer at the Norisring
Preining himself had made it public at mid-season at the Norisring that his contract was expiring. At the time he was almost 50 points behind the championship leader, and he finished ninth in both races. After the Saturday race, he criticized the Balance of Performance for his Porsche 911 GT3 R and said: “I’m really close to saying: this is pointless, I’m quitting.”
About a month later, he put the remark into context. It was said “in the heat of the moment,” he told ran.de, adding: “It’s my favorite championship and I would like to stay.” At the same time, he made clear that the decision about his program is not his alone. He told Motorsport-Total.com: “I’m not hanging up my boots yet, but as a factory driver it’s not always completely up to me.”
From deficit to second title
In sporting terms, the picture changed in the second half of the season. In the final race at Hockenheim, won by Maro Engel, third place was enough for Preining to clinch the title. He finished the season with 225 points and two wins, and Engel ended up as runner-up. His team Manthey also won the teams’ championship.
It is Preining’s second DTM title after 2023. That makes him the first driver to become DTM champion twice with Porsche, and one of only eight drivers with at least two DTM titles. For Manthey-Porsche, it is the third drivers’ title in four years.
Why Porsche wants to hold on to him
The numbers explain Laudenbach’s stance. Of the three DTM drivers’ titles Porsche has won since 2023, two belong to Preining. Then there is how the second one came about: an almost 50-point deficit at mid-season turned into a title, in a season in which Preining had publicly criticized his car’s BoP rating. Laudenbach credited him with “nerves without end.”
Until the Night of Champions, it remains a matter of stated intentions. Both point in the same direction.
