• Manthey DK Engineering climbs from P18 to P7 in the sixth FIA WEC race of the season, scoring six championship points
• The Bend Manthey finishes 12th after repairs following a first-lap collision

Manthey DK Engineering crossed the finish line in seventh place in the LMGT3 class during the FIA World Endurance Championship round in Japan. Starting from 18th on the grid, James Cottingham, Timur Boguslavskiy and Ayhancan Güven gained eleven positions and secured valuable championship points. The race proved more challenging for the sister car of The Bend Manthey. Following a spin and collision on the opening lap, Yasser Shahin, Riccardo Pera and Richard Lietz eventually finished 12th after a necessary repair stop.

The race weekend at Fuji Speedway got off to a turbulent start on Saturday. Heavy rain and dense fog led to the cancellation of the qualifying sessions. As the grid was subsequently determined by the lap times from the free practice sessions, the two Porsche 911 GT3 R entered the race from 17th (#92) and 18th (#91), at the rear of the LMGT3 field. Already on the opening lap, the race of the No. 92 was compromised by a spin and a subsequent collision. The resulting rear-end damage required repairs, costing the car six laps to the leaders. Despite the best efforts of the driver crew, the deficit proved too large to recover from, and Shahin, Pera and Lietz crossed the finish line in 12th place after six hours of racing. Meanwhile, James Cottingham steadily worked his way through the field in the No. 91 Porsche with a series of strong overtakes and an effective pit strategy. Around 90 minutes into the race, the Briton temporarily took the lead of the LMGT3 category. However, a drive-through penalty and an unfortunately timed Virtual Safety Car dropped the Porsche back into the midfield around the halfway mark. The final phase of the race then added even more excitement. A late Safety Car period and incoming rain created strategic challenges for the LMGT3 field and triggered numerous position changes throughout the class. Ayhancan Güven eventually brought the No. 91 Porsche home in seventh place after six hours of racing.

"The 6 Hours of Fuji once again delivered an exciting and eventful WEC race. The track was still damp in places at the start, which unfortunately caught out our No. 92 car. Yasser tried to avoid a collision between cars ahead of him, ran onto a wet section of the track and spun. This resulted in contact with another car, leaving our Porsche stranded in the gravel. While we were able to continue, the necessary repairs cost us six laps and effectively ended any realistic chance of a top result. The opening hours with the No. 91 car were positive. James managed to stay out of trouble in the GT3 field and worked his way to the front of the class thanks to excellent pace. Just like in Austin, it was an outstanding performance from him. Timur also delivered a strong stint, but the drive-through penalty cost us several positions. The race became even more exciting towards the end when rain arrived and the late Safety Car period came into play. We deliberately took a high-risk strategic approach at the final pit stop of the No. 91, choosing to refuel only and not change tyres. This initially allowed us to gain several places. However, the rain turned out to be lighter than expected, giving the cars on fresh tyres an advantage. Ayhancan fought extremely hard, recovered positions after initially dropping back and defended brilliantly. In the end, only 13 thousandths of a second separated us from sixth place. The result is still provisional and several incidents remain under investigation, so we will have to wait and see what the final classification looks like", explains Patrick Arkenau, Director Racing at the Manthey Racing GmbH. 

With two championship rounds remaining, Cottingham, Boguslavskiy and Güven (#91) now occupy fourth place in the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGT3 Teams with 54 points. Shahin, Pera and Lietz (#92) follow in seventh place with 49 points.

The 6 Hours of Fuji marked the beginning of an intensive end-of-season period for Manthey. Already next week, the team travels to Road Atlanta in the United States for the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup finale (3 October 2026). Directly afterwards, the final two DTM sprint races of the season will take place at Hockenheim (10-11 October 2026), before Manthey concludes a run of four consecutive race weekends with the penultimate FIA WEC round of the season at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 18 October 2026.

Quotes on the 2026 6 Hours of Fuji: 

James Cottingham, Manthey DK Engineering Porsche 911 GT3 R #91: "The cancellation of qualifying definitely didn't work in our favour. Even so, starting from the back of the grid, we managed to fight our way to the front and, for a while, it looked like we were on course for a very strong result in Fuji. Unfortunately, the penalty cost us a lot of track position and changed the course of our race. Towards the end, the team made some brave strategic calls that brought us back into the fight. In the end, however, we simply didn't have the tyre performance to challenge at the very front. Overall, it was a strong weekend from everyone involved, but unfortunately the final result doesn't fully reflect what the the whole team deserved."

Timur Boguslavskiy, Manthey DK Engineering Porsche 911 GT3 R #91: "James had fantastic pace at the start of the race and managed to climb from the back of the field all the way into the lead. Unfortunately, the penalty I received dropped us back and we had to recover once again. When Can got into the car towards the end, it became a real strategy battle with different tyre and pit stop approaches across the field. In the end, seventh place was not the result we were hoping for in Japan, but at least we were able to score valuable championship points."

Ayhancan Güven, Manthey DK Engineering Porsche 911 GT3 R #91: "Seventh place in Fuji means we leave with points, but not as many as we were aiming for. James did an excellent job in the opening stint and put us in a position to fight at the front of the field. Unfortunately, penalties and a few incidents during the race cost us valuable ground. The final 45 minutes were extremely chaotic with the Safety Car, changing weather conditions and different strategies throughout the LMGT3 field. In the end, our pace wasn't quite enough to challenge for the top positions, which was certainly our goal heading into the weekend. Nevertheless, climbing from 18th on the grid to seventh is something we can be proud of."

Yasser Shahin, The Bend Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R #92: "A tough day in Fuji. We started from an unfavourable position given the conditions, and an early incident put us out of contention before we'd really got going. Huge credit to the team - they got the car repaired and back out, and we went to battle for the full six hours despite the compromises that came with it. It wasn't the result we came for, but the effort from everyone on the box was exactly what this team is about. We'll take the lessons from today and come back determined to put in a stronger result next round."

Riccardo Pera, The Bend Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R #92: "After the repairs, we found ourselves six laps behind, and at that point our race was effectively over. Naturally, that was very disappointing. The positive side is that I still got to enjoy some laps around Fuji, which is a circuit I really like. Missing out on points is frustrating, but our focus is already on Barcelona. The objective is clear: come back stronger and return to the points."

Richard Lietz, The Bend Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R #92: "Unfortunately, we had a spin shortly after the start and then made contact with an Aston Martin. The car got stuck in the gravel and we had to come into the pits for repairs. From that moment on, our race was effectively compromised, and we eventually finished several laps down. Now our full focus is on the final two races of the season. After a difficult run of events recently, we want to finish the year on a strong note."