The 911 GT3 R proved to be one of the more competitive cars at the beginning of the year, with a 1-2-3-4 result led by Christian Engelhart at Oschersleben prompting rivals to describe the DTM as a ‘Porsche Cup’ series.
However, Porsche’s results took a nosedive at the fifth round of the season earlier this month, with not even a single car from the manufacturer finishing inside the top 10 in the opening race. There was a considerable improvement in the second race with Preining and team-mate Dennis Olsen finishing fourth and fifth respectively, but the next-best Porsche car finished down in 12th, highlighting the marque’s place in the pecking order.
Preining, who saw his 28-point lead in the championship turn into a seven-point deficit, explained that Porsche has been gradually falling behind its rivals, and the pace difference was simply more pronounced at the Lausitzring due to the nature of the track.
"We simply have a disadvantage compared to the competition and that has grown over the course of the season," Preining told Motorsport.com’s sister title Motorsport-Total.com.
"That's the main reason for the lack of lap time and why we can't really overtake in the race. When you start braking, we're so far behind that we can't start any meaningful manoeuvres.
"All the competition, no matter which manufacturer, the difference is just very big.
"On this track, it comes out especially because you're just accelerating out of the last corner and out of Turn 5 in second gear onto a very long straight.
"That's where it's more noticeable, but we've already had the disadvantage throughout the season, only this time it was glaring."
Source: Autosport