Title thriller in Hockenheim: Sunday showdown for the DTM crown

• Mercedes-AMG driver Auer wins eventful penultimate race of the championship
• Bortolotti claims first podium of the season in a Lamborghini Temerario GT3
• Wittmann and Engel cut gap to championship leader Preining

Hockenheim. The thrilling race for the DTM title will go down to the final race. After a spectacular penultimate race of the season, which was littered with hard-fought battles, the destination of the title will be decided in a grand finale at the Hockenheimring on Sunday. Championship leader Thomas Preining (A/Manthey) fought his way back to fifth place after a poor start, but was unable to prevent his two closest rivals from eating into his lead: Marco Wittmann (Fürth/Schubert Motorsport) finished the race in third place and consequently climbs into second in the table, just 20 points behind Preining. Maro Engel (Monaco/Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol) came home fourth and now trails the leader by 22 points. Victory in the spectacular 15th race of the DTM season went to Lucas Auer (A/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf), who was rewarded for a flawless display with his first victory of the season. "That was a tough race with many intense battles. We have had a huge amount of bad luck recently, so I am unbelievably happy with this - even if the title is, unfortunately, no longer within reach for me. We want to back this up on Sunday and get another win," said the 32-year-old. Runner-up Mirko Bortolotti (I/TGI Team by GRT) also enjoyed his best result of the season so far.

Key facts, Hockenheimring, Hockenheim, race 15 of 16

• Circuit length: 4,574 metres
• Weather: 16 degrees, unsettled
• Pole position: Luca Engstler (Red Bull Team Abt, Lamborghini Temerario GT3 #130), 1:47.048 minutes
• Winner: Lucas Auer (Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf, Mercedes-AMG GT3 #22)
• Fastest lap: Maro Engel (Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol, Mercedes-AMG GT3), 1:38.008 minutes

Pole-sitter Luca Engstler (Kempten/Red Bull Team Abt) held onto the lead ahead of Auer at the start of Saturday's race. While Engel charged through from seventh to third place, championship leader Preining plummeted from third to eleventh. Lap two was a hectic affair: in battling for the lead, there was contact between Auer and Engstler, whose Lamborghini Temerario GT3 then hit a wall. After a brief break, during which Engstler's car was recovered, the race resumed. Not long after that, Engel moved to the head of the field. By the time he came in for the mandatory pit stop, he had opened a lead of over three seconds ahead of fellow Mercedes-AMG driver Auer. They were followed by Bortolotti, Wittmann and Marco Mapelli (I/Red Bull Team Abt). Preining had battled his way back to eighth by this point.

Once all the drivers had completed a tyre change, Engel, who had held a commanding lead up to this point, was the last man to come in for a new set of Pirelli slicks. The new rear-right wheel jammed in the process, resulting in the 41-year-old losing a lot of time. Engel's Mercedes-AMG GT3 returned to the track behind Auer and Bortolotti in third place, and was soon overtaken by Wittmann too. After 36 laps of racing, Auer took the chequered flag, followed by Bortolotti, Wittmann and Engel. Preining was next across the finish line in fifth place, after a perfect pit stop and some spectacular overtaking manoeuvres. That puts the 28-year-old from Linz 20 points ahead of Wittmann and 22 ahead of Engel going into the final race. A maximum 28 points are up for grabs on Sunday.

Kelvin van der Linde (ZA) was sixth in the second Schubert Motorsport BMW. Seventh place went to Jules Gounon (F/Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter), while Arjun Maini (IND/HRT Ford Racing) ended the race in eighth place in a Ford Mustang GT3. Mapelli eventually came home ninth, with Finn Wiebelhaus (Obertshausen/HRT Ford Racing) completing the top ten.

Mirko Bortolotti: "A super race by us! As the season has progressed, we have understood the new Lamborghini Temerario GT3 better all the time. We want to back that up on Sunday and finish the season by getting the best out of our car again."

Marco Wittmann: "Our title dream lives on! My clear goal was to finish ahead of Thomas Preining. It did not look good at all after qualifying, but the table had turned by the end of the first lap. That is typical of the DTM in Hockenheim. We were lacking a bit of pace in the race, so I am pleased I was able to bring us home in third place."

Maro Engel: "After the super start, I was able to control the race from the front. Then came the pit stop, in which I, unfortunately, lost a lot of time. That really hurts, but the title race is still wide open. The race showed just how quickly everything can change in the DTM. We will give it our all again on Sunday."

Thomas Preining: "I tried to stay out of all the chaos and avoid making any mistakes. Overtaking was extremely difficult, so we can be happy with our performance. The key on Sunday is to perform well in qualifying. I obviously know what is at stake. However, I will try to approach the day as normally as possible, and focus fully on doing my job."

Result of race 15 of the season at the Hockenheimring
1. Lucas Auer (A/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf)
2. Mirko Bortolotti (I/TGI Team by GRT), +4.777 seconds
3. Marco Wittmann (D/Schubert Motorsport), +8.157 seconds
4. Maro Engel (D/Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol), +8.533 seconds
5. Thomas Preining (A/Manthey), +17.057 seconds

Drivers' Championship after 15 of 16 races
1. Thomas Preining (A/Manthey), 209 points
2. Marco Wittmann (D/Schubert Motorsport), 189 points
3. Maro Engel (D/Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol), 187 points

The full result can be found at dtm.com/en/results.