Manthey EMA finished the first round of the 2023 Nürburgring Endurance Series as the best-placed Porsche in 7th position. Austrian Thomas Preining crossed the finish line after 28 laps, 2:37.524 minutes down on the leader. He shared the cockpit of the yellow-green Porsche 911 GT3 R with Marco Holzer (Germany). In preparation for the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, the team was able to gain valuable experience with the latest generation 911 at the Green Hell.

The qualifying session, during the morning of 18 March, started in damp conditions after rain overnight. With the track drying, tyre choice played an important role in the final stages of the 90-minute qualifying session. Manthey EMA sent the 911 out on wet tyres and decided not to change to slicks. On the 24.358-kilometre combination of the Nordschleife and the short Grand Prix circuit that is typical of the Nürburgring Endurance Series, Thomas Preining set a lap time of 8:54.858 minutes. This put the car with starting number 911 in 15th place.

The 68th ADAC Westfalenfahrt started at 12:00 in sunny conditions for the 118 participants. After a flawless start, Preining worked his way into the top-10 in the opening minutes of the four-hour race and handed over the 911 to Holzer after six laps. The duo remained in the top ten throughout the race, moving as high as sixth. After 28 laps, the final driver, Preining, took the chequered flag in seventh place.

"It was an interesting day for us with the new car, and we certainly still have a lot to learn. In qualifying we drove completely on wet tyres, which was maybe too cautious in the last two laps. Overall, everything went well for me, and I am happy with the team's performance. We still have to work on the new car's performance to be able to compete at the front. We collected plenty of important information and data on the new Porsche and were able to give Thomas a lot of driving time on the Nordschleife. Our focus now is to work on the car's performance and increase Thomas' Nordschleife kilometres so that we can put together the package we need to win the 24 Hours in May," explains Nicolas Raeder, Managing Director of Manthey Racing GmbH.

The second race of the Nürburgring Endurance Series, the NIMEX 47th DMV 4-Hour Race, takes place in two weeks' time on 1 April.

Driver quotes on NLS 1:

Marco Holzer, Porsche 911 GT3 R #911:
"Finishing the first race with the new Porsche GT3 R on the Nordschleife in P7, and as the best Porsche, is definitely a good result - and I was happy to drive for Manthey again. We were able to gather a lot of data for the big race in May. Overall, it was a trouble-free race and Thomas did a fantastic job, as did the whole team.”

Thomas Preining, Porsche 911 GT3 R #911:
"We were able to achieve a positive result overall. In the race, I had a good first lap and was able to work my way up the field. After that, we maintained position throughout the race and had no problems. So, in the first race with the new car, we achieved everything we set out to do. Hopefully, we can come back even stronger in the second NLS race in two weeks' time.”