Manthey EMA driver Preining topped the 20-minute session with a time of 1m21.347s, beating the similar Porsche 911 GT3 R of Toksport WRT driver Tim Heinemann by 0.055 seconds to pole in a somewhat anticlimactic end to qualifying.
It marked Preining’s first pole in DTM in 18 attempts, the Austrian having never started higher than second on the grid despite scoring two wins in his rookie campaign last year - including the very first for Porsche as a manufacturer.
