• Thomas Preining finishes on the podium in Saturday's race, while Morris Schuring and Ayhancan Güven score championship points
• On Sunday, Preining celebrates his first victory of the season, while Güven and Schuring also finish in the points in a turbulent race
• After scoring points with all cars in every race at the Norisring, Manthey enters the summer break of the sprint season as the leading team in the DTM team standings 

Nuremberg. At the Norisring, the only city circuit on the DTM calendar, Thomas Preining (Austria) secured a victory and a second place finish on the fourth race weekend of the DTM season. Ayhancan Güven (Turkey) and Morris Schuring (Netherlands) both finish in the top 15 in both races, scoring important championship points. These points in both races ensure that Manthey enters the summer break of the sprint season with a seventeen-point lead as the leading team in the DTM team standings.

The Manthey drivers started the first race at the Norisring from fourth (Preining), eighteenth (Güven) and nineteenth (Schuring) on the grid. Preining, who had already won at Nuremberg in 2022 and 2023, managed to move up to the podium positions and take third place right in the first corner of the 2.126 km long track with a clever overtaking manoeuvre on the inside of the Grundigkehre. The Austrian held this position until entering the pit lane for the mandatory tyre change on his number 91 car. Thanks to a strategic overcut, he was able to pass second placed Thierry Vermeulen immediately after leaving the pit lane and keep him behind him. He eventually crossed the finish line in second place after the full race duration, securing his second podium finish in a row after a third place in Zandvoort. Meanwhile, Güven and Schuring had started a comeback in the early stages of the race and brought their cars into the pits for a tyre change in fifteenth and sixteenth place. They also made up places in the pit lane: while Güven returned to the track in eleventh place and finished the race there, Schuring was spun off the track with 17 minutes remaining, but still finished the race in 14th place in the points.

In Sunday's race, Preining repeated his performance from the previous day and improved from sixth on the grid to third in the first corner. Due to a collision, a red flag was waved at the Norisring after just three minutes of racing. Schuring, who started from nineteenth place, was unable to avoid the collision involving the cars in front of him and had to drive into the pit lane, as his car suffered damage to the front and rear. In less than ten minutes during the race interruption, the team managed to get the number 92 car back on track, allowing Schuring to restart the race from the back of the field. Güven had worked his way up from tenth to eighth place in the first corner and restarted the race at 1:59 p.m. with the rest of the DTM field behind the safety car. The first mandatory pit stops went smoothly for the team, and clever race strategies for all three cars paid off, with Schuring in fifteenth place, Güven in fifth and Preining in second place in the field after the first pit stop window closed. After the successful second pit stop for the number 91 car, Preining finally managed to overtake the leading Briton Aitken in a strong duel. He held on to first place until the chequered flag to claim his third victory at the Norisring. After the number 90 car lost places due to problems with the second tyre change and Schuring moved up due to penalties against cars in front, the two other Manthey drivers finished the eighth race of the season in eleventh (#90) and twelfth (#92) positions, also in the points.

"A great weekend with second and first place for Thomas. We are in a position to fight for the drivers' championship and were able to extend our lead in the team championship. I am very proud of the whole team and would like to thank everyone, including our partners. After the emotionally difficult weekend at the Nürburgring, this result means a lot to us. We have had some tough weeks behind us, which makes me all the more proud of everyone's performance and especially of the fact that we were able to repair Morris' car so quickly on Sunday.", explains Nicolas Raeder, Managing Director of Manthey Racing GmbH. "Ayhancan and Morris also had a good weekend, but unfortunately we couldn't get every last bit out of the results. Qualifying didn't go perfectly for either of them. At the moment, all the cars are very close together, which is positive, and small things quickly make the difference. That's what makes the DTM so special. Ayhancan's last stop on Sunday was also marred by a series of unfortunate circumstances. To get a good exit, he tried to adjust his parking position, which meant that the mechanics were no longer in the perfect position for the tyre change. Then we had to stop the car again because the fast lane was blocked. Therefore we lost time, but that's how it goes sometimes. Fifth place would have been a better reflection of his performance. With Morris, you have to remember that this is his second year in GT3 and his first year in the DTM. When you look at the names he's competing against, you can see that he's made it to the top. I would also like to say a big thank you to the crew. We have been competitive every weekend so far and are very proud of that. After some exhausting weeks, we are looking forward to the break and are confident about the second half of the season.", added Patrick Arkenau, Director Racing at Manthey Racing GmbH.

With 201 points, Manthey extends its lead in the DTM team standings to 17 points. Thomas Preining's strong results at the Norisring put him within striking distance of the lead in the drivers' championship, where he now ranks second with 102 points. Ayhancan Güven is in eighth place (83 points) after eight of sixteen races, while Morris Schuring occupies 15th position (27 points). The young Dutchman leads the rookie championship standings by 16 points. The next two races in the series, the team's home races, will take place at the Nürburgring from 8 to 10 August.

Quotes on the DTM race weekend at the Norisring:

Ayhancan Güven, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90: "Two eleventh places at the Norisring. The qualifying sessions didn't go so well and we lacked a bit of pace, so we had to work our way up the field in both races. Saturday's result reflects what was ultimately possible. Unfortunately, we dropped back a little on Sunday. After the first pit stop, I was in fifth place and tried to move up to fourth. Unfortunately, I had some traffic in the pits during the last pit stop and a few minor problems, which meant I dropped back to eleventh place. So we lost a few points. At the end of the day, though, it was a very good first half of the season with two wins and lots of points, and we are leading the championship as a team. Now I'm looking forward to the summer break and then we'll start the second half of the season full of motivation."

Thomas Preining, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91: "IA fantastic weekend. We maximised our points haul in both races, which isn't always easy because the DTM is so closely fought. But everything was perfect this weekend. I had some tough battles in both races, but we also benefited from great strategies and perfect pit stops in both races. To remain error-free after such exhausting weeks is a great testament to the whole team, and I am very grateful for that. The racing this weekend was really at a high level overall and was fun. In the previous races, things didn't always go according to plan, but with three podium finishes in a row, we are back in the championship and where we want to be: fully in the mix."

Morris Schuring, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92: "After the first lap, I thought we wouldn't be able to finish the race. So to cross the finish line first in the rookie classification and twelfth overall is fantastic. I can only thank the team. Without them, I wouldn't have been able to finish the race. They really put in an impressive performance, and I'm very grateful to them. Scoring points twice is good, but in the second half of the season I want to make further progress, especially in qualifying. I'm looking forward to a short break and then I'm really looking forward to the Nürburgring!"
 

Results DTM race 1 at the Norisring:

1st. Jordan Pepper, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 #63
2nd. Thomas Preining, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91
3rd. Maro Engel, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo #24

11th. Ayhancan Güven, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90
14th. Morris Schuring, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92

Results DTM race 2 at the Norisring:

1st. Thomas Preining, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91
2nd. Jack Aitken, Ferrari 296 GT3 #14
3rd. Thierry Vermeulen, Ferrari 296 GT3 #69

11th. Ayhancan Güven, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90
12th. Morris Schuring, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92