After a difficult first race day, Manthey EMA achieves two top seven finishes in Sunday's race at the DTM home event at the Nürburgring and ends the weekend with a strong result. Ayhancan Güven (Turkey) made up 14 positions with a fifth place on Sunday and achieved his best result of the season so far. Manthey EMA moved up to sixth place in the DTM team standings after the two home races. Thomas Preining (Austria) and teammate Güven also gained one and two positions respectively and now sit in sixth and 17th place in the drivers' standings.

After heavy rain had already set in on the grid, the Manthey EMA drivers started the first race on the 3.269-kilometre home track from positions 15 (#91) and eight (#90). The #91 car was able to improve by three places in these conditions, but only came into the pitlane in 13th place after being ordered to change places due to an incorrect overtaking manoeuvre. Thanks to a good strategy and a flawless pit stop, the Austrian made up three positions and worked his way up from this position. Ayhancan Güven also moved up one position until his pit stop a few seconds before the pit stop window closed. When leaving the pit lane, however, he crossed the so-called 'white line' at the pit exit and received a penalty lap. The Turkish driver then collided with the Lamborghini with starting number 94 in turn 2, for which race control handed out three further penalties. As a result, car number 90 had to visit the penalty zone a total of four times before the end of the race and finally saw the chequered flag in 17th place. Thomas Preining fought two successful battles for position before the end of the race and finished the ninth DTM race in seventh place.

Sunday's race on the Nürburgring sprint track started in dry conditions for Thomas Preining from seventh place. Güven, who had made a mistake on his fast lap in qualifying, started the race from 19th position. In the starting phase, Preining benefited from the spin of a car in front and improved by one position, while car number 90 moved up four places to 15th on the second lap. Immediately after the opening of the pit stop window, which had been delayed by two safety car phases, the team successfully changed the tyres on the number 91 car, which put the Austrian on course for a podium thanks to the undercut strategy. After a collision with Aitken (#14), however, he dropped back to sixth place and found himself directly in front of his teammate, who was able to make up numerous places thanks to a strategic late pit stop and successful overcut. The two drivers held on to sixth and seventh positions until five minutes before the end of the race, when they were able to close the gap on fifth-placed Vermeulen (#69). After a thrilling three-way battle in the last two laps of the race, Güven fought his way up to fifth place, moving up 14 places from his starting position, while Preining crossed the finish line in sixth. Due to a 0.5-second penalty for a manoeuvre against Vermeulen, the 91 driver lost one place and officially finished the race in seventh place.

In the DTM drivers' standings, Thomas Preining moves up to sixth place with 93 points, while Ayhancan Güven finds himself in 17th place after his season-best result in Sunday's race (29 points). Manthey EMA also gains a position in the team standings with these results and finishes the home race at the Nürburgring in sixth place overall (124 points).

"It was a very exhausting and eventful weekend for us on our home track. We had a lot of guests, changeable weather and mixed results on the track. Qualifying on Saturday was very mixed. Thomas was then able to move up seven places to seventh in the race - a very good race for him in the rain. It was a shame for Ayhancan how the race ended up. Qualifying on Sunday was extremely exciting, because I've never seen a rain tyre and a slick tyre really be equally fast in qualifying. Thomas put in a good qualifying session with seventh place, while Ayhancan unfortunately made a mistake on the decisive lap and had to start from the back of the grid. It is all the more pleasing that we were able to make up so many positions in the very exciting race and finish in fifth and seventh place," explains Nicolas Raeder, Managing Director of Manthey Racing GmbH.

The next edition of the DTM will take place in three weeks' time at the Sachsenring from 6th to 8th September 2024.

Quotes on the DTM race weekend at the Nürburgring:

Ayhancan Güven, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90: "I finally achieved my best result of the season in the second race. I initially had a good race on Saturday, but then made too many mistakes and wasn't able to score any points. Qualifying didn't go according to plan on Sunday either. In the end, I only had one lap in which I couldn't put it together, so I only managed 19th place. But to be honest, I'm very happy. I was very fast this weekend, finished my second race in fifth place and finally showed what is possible."

Thomas Preining, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91: "As a team, we worked really well again this weekend and got the maximum out of both race days. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for more. The race on Sunday in particular was very tough. I'm proud of the team, because we once again pulled off great pit stops. But in the end it wasn't enough for more for various reasons. That's frustrating, but we still scored important points. We'll continue at the Sachsenring."

Results DTM Race 1 at the Nürburgring:

7th Thomas Preining, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91
17th Ayhancan Güven, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90

Results DTM Race 2 at the Nürburgring:

5th Ayhancan Güven, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90
7th Thomas Preining, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91

DTM Race Calendar 2024:

26.04. - 28.04.2024 Oschersleben Motorsport Arena
24.05. - 26.05.2024 DEKRA Lausitzring
07.06. - 09.06.2024 Circuit Zandvoort / NL
05.07. - 07.07.2024 Norisring
16.08. - 18.08.2024 Nürburgring
06.09. - 08.09.2024 Sachsenring
27.09. - 29.09.2024 Red Bull Ring / A
18.10. - 20.10.2024 Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg

Source: Manthey EMA