Thomas Preining will defend his DTM title with the Porsche Team Manthey-EMA – In the “Grello” he will once again face his GT3 opponents
He will defend his title: Thomas Preining will also be competing in the Manthey-EMA “Grello” in the DTM in 2024. Porsche announced this in its press release for the “Night of the Champions” end-of-season party
Manthey-EMA won the 2023 DTM outright with the Austrian after a thrilling battle with SSR Lamborghini driver Mirko Bortolotti. He will now tackle the title defense again with the number 91, as Manthey announced in a social media post.
The starting number 91 has great significance for Porsche, as it stands for the Porsche 911 and has been used by Manthey since the RSR era. Preining and the Manthey team will therefore do without starting number 1.
The second cockpit at the traditional racing team from the Eifel region, which intends to compete again in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in 2024 in addition to the DTM, is currently still open.
Thomas Preining has been part of the sports car manufacturer’s driver pool since 2017, when he became an official Porsche Junior. In 2018, he was champion in the German Porsche Carrera Cup and third in the Supercup, after which he raced with Herberth Motorsport and Team Bernhard in the ADAC GT Masters and, from 2022, in the DTM.
In addition to these series, Preining also gained experience in endurance racing, including in the WEC, the GT World Challenge (GTWC) Europe and the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS). He was also a test and development driver in Porsche’s Formula E team in 2020.
Thomas Preining is only the third driver confirmed for the 2024 DTM season. The other two are Kelvin van der Linde and Ricardo Feller, who were already confirmed by Abt Sportsline on Audi at the 2023 season finale
