For several races now, a sticker has been emblazoned on the side window of Thomas Preining’s Porsche: how it came about and why it points to parallels with Kimi Räikkönen
Finders will have noticed that since the fourth weekend of the season at the Nürburgring at the beginning of August, there has been a sticker on the side window of DTM leader Thomas Preining’s “Grello” Porsche with the slogan “Don’t talk to the Busdriver during Quali”. But what is this all about and how did it come about?
“The mechanics suddenly had this sticker” that he himself had nothing to do with it. “I don’t know where it suddenly came from with the bus driver. ‘Please don’t talk’ came from me.”
For Preining reveals that he doesn’t like being disturbed on the radio during qualifying. “That’s a ‘running gag’ from the mechanics that I got upset when people talked to us during qualifying,” he refers to the sticker.
Preining: “Happy to talk on the radio, but not in qualifying “
“At least in the push laps” he prefers to have his peace. “I like to talk on the radio, but especially in qualifying it really has to be 110 per cent. And that’s when you really have to concentrate fully.”
I think that’s “also kind of understandable”, said Preining, who had the best qualifying record of all drivers, especially in the first half of the season, laying the foundation for his DTM lead before the finale and possibly for Porsche’s first DTM title.
Preining says he has taken the sticker positively. “They make a joke out of it – and that’s perfectly okay. “
It’s well known that racing drivers like to shut themselves off and don’t want to be constantly annoyed on the radio. The best example is ex-Formula 1 driver Kimi Räikkönen with his legendary and often quoted radio message during the victory in Abu Dhabi in 2012: “Leave me alone, I know what I’m doing!”
Manthey managing director Nicki Raeder, who has been working with the Porsche works driver since the end of 2022, recognises similar tendencies in Preining. “Normally I go up to the driver before the start and wish him good luck or have fun,” “But Tommy just wants to be left alone, he wants to concentrate before the start. Everyone is different. “
