• Ayhancan Güven returns to the 2025 DTM championship fight with two wins in two races at the Sachsenring
• Thomas Preining finishes fourth and tenth, while Morris Schuring also scores points with seventh place in Sunday’s race
• Manthey extends its lead at the top of the team championship standings to 47 points

Hohenstein-Ernstthal. Manthey EMA and Ayhancan Güven (Turkey) triumphed twice in two eventful races at the Sachsenring: Güven stood at the top of the podium in both Saturday's and Sunday's races, moving him to within five points of the lead in the drivers' championship. Thomas Preining (Austria) also remains in touch with the lead, trailing by fifteen points after finishing fourth and tenth on the traditional circuit. Morris Schuring (Netherlands) finished Saturday's race in 17th place and took the lead in the rookie championship with seventh place on Sunday. With only four races remaining in the season, Manthey extends its lead in the DTM team standings to 47 points at the Sachsenring.

The Manthey drivers started the first race from eighth (Preining), ninth (Güven) and eighteenth (Schuring) on the grid after a qualifying session affected by traffic. The weather played a decisive role already during the starting grid when heavy rain set in. Thanks to the strategic decision to opt for lower tyre pressure, prepared for the quickly drying track conditions right after the start, all three 911s were able to make up ground in the first half of the race and move up to fourth (#91), seventh (#90) and fourteenth (#92) before the first pit stops. After quick tyre changes and a switch to slicks, the drivers rejoined the race in third (#91), fourth (#90) and seventh (#92) positions before Preining moved up to second after 45 minutes. A safety car deployment five minutes before the end of the race and the onset of rain added to the excitement. Preining briefly took the lead from Jordan Pepper during this phase, but had to relinquish it due to a driving error and a resulting counter-manoeuvre on the penultimate lap. He eventually finished the race in fourth place as a result of the time lost in the duel. Güven, who was in third place at the time, benefited from the battle for the lead, passing both of his rivals in the first corner and defending his lead to the finish. Schuring saw the chequered flag in eighth place, but was relegated to 17th after receiving a time penalty for a collision with car number 19 (Engstler).

Sunday qualifying went promisingly for the three Porsches, with Preining in second, Güven in third and Schuring in fifth, without any traffic hindering their fast laps. Schuring started the race from tenth on the grid after being demoted five places. In the first corner of the race, Güven initially managed to pass his teammate on the inside and move into second place. As the race progressed, Preining was able to pass the number 90 car again during the first pit stop window and close in on the leader, Aitken. When the Austrian attempted to overtake the British driver on lap 20, the two cars collided, sending the number 14 car into the gravel trap and Preining falling back to eleventh place with a three-penalty-lap penalty. This incident once again benefited Güven, who confidently crossed the finish line in first place even after the second pit stop. This result gave the Turk his fourth DTM victory of the current sprint season, making him the driver with the most wins in the field. While Preining held on to eleventh place for the rest of the race and is now listed in tenth place following the disqualification of car number 25, Schuring found himself on course for a podium finish after two mandatory tyre changes and a strong driving performance. Due to a penalty lap for crossing the white line at the pit exit, the young Dutchman finished seventh, securing his second top ten result in his rookie season.

"Winning both races, extending our lead in the team championship and now having a good chance of winning the title with two drivers is a fantastic result. Two wins in one weekend are extremely rare in the DTM. No one could have imagined how it all happened. They were very exciting and also controversial races. Thomas was very fast in both races and had a great chance of winning, but unfortunately he made mistakes. Nevertheless, nothing is lost in the championship, as we are only 15 points behind after the Sachsenring. Ayhancan put in an incredible performance, made no mistakes in either race and brought home the lead he had earned. Morris also had good races and showed strong pace, but unfortunately received penalties. A podium finish was well within his reach on Sunday, which is of course a little disappointing. At the end of the day, however, 2025 is a learning year for him and the learning curve is very steep. In summary, we could have achieved even more as a team at the Sachsenring and further podium results were within reach. However, we are extremely happy about the two victories and I would also like to highlight the superb performance of our pit crew, who always delivered and even achieved the fastest tyre change of the day on Saturday. After this rollercoaster of emotions, we are going into the last two events of the season fully motivated and with high expectations," explains Patrick Arkenau, Director Racing.

With a 47-point lead, Manthey remains at the top of the team championship (297 points) after the races at the Sachsenring. Ayhancan Güven closes in on the lead with his victories and is now third in the drivers' championship (145 points), six points behind the leader. Thomas Preining is now fifteen points behind the lead (136 points, fifth place), while Morris Schuring (40 points, 17th place) travels to the Red Bull Ring as the leader in the rookie championship (15 points ahead). The next two races of the season, Thomas Preining's home races, will take place in Styria from 12th to 14th September.

Quotes on the DTM race weekend at the Sachsenring:

Ayhancan Güven, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90: "Wow! Two wins at the Sachsenring, my fourth win this year – simply incredible. The Sachsenring is one of my favourite tracks, where I stood on the DTM podium for the first time two years ago. To win both races here now, two years later, is just fantastic. It gives the team a huge boost and motivation. I would like to thank all the fans – they are fantastic all year round, but today I saw so many Grello caps and fans in the stands, it's unbelievable. On the other hand, the team is doing a mega job with the strategy, the pit stops and the car – incredible. Everything was perfect in qualifying and in the races, even in difficult conditions. I am so proud of that!"

Thomas Preining, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91: "It was an exciting weekend – I was in contention for victory in both races and ended up finishing fourth and tenth. Unfortunately, I dropped a lot of points. In Saturday's race, I threw it away with a mistake one lap before the end. In Sunday's race, I tried to overtake Jack for the lead with the same manoeuvre I always do. He didn't play along. He doesn't have to. It's his corner when he's in front. In the end, we both suffered. I didn't have any room and couldn't avoid hitting his rear. The penalty meant that P10 was the best we could do. It's very disappointing, we should have won both races. Overall, we didn't score many points, which is very frustrating. But nothing is lost yet. We are still within striking distance, have no extra weight for the Red Bull Ring and still have four races to go."

Morris Schuring, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92: "The race result on Sunday was really frustrating. I think we could have made it onto the podium, but unfortunately we got a penalty lap. Overall, it was a positive day, but it's a real shame that I missed out on my first podium finish. Things also went well on Saturday, but the result was affected by the penalty. I'm proud of my top five result in the second qualifying and my second top ten finish in the DTM. I want to build on this trend and I'm very happy with our progress and our improving performance. The podium is within reach."

DTM Race Calendar 2025:

25.04. – 27.04.2025 Motorsport Arena Oschersleben
23.05. – 25.05.2025 DEKRA Lausitzring
06.06. – 08.06.2025 Circuit Zandvoort / NL
04.07. – 08.07.2025 Norisring
08.08. – 10.08.2025 Nürburgring
22.08. – 24.08.2025 Sachsenring
12.09. – 14.09.2025 Red Bull Ring by VKB Bank / A
03.10. – 05.10.2025 Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg

Results DTM race 1 at the Sachsenring:

1st. Ayhancan Güven, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90
4th. Thomas Preining, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91
17th. Morris Schuring, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92

Results DTM race 2 at the Sachsenring:

1st. Ayhancan Güven, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90
7th. Morris Schuring, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92
10th. Thomas Preining, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91