Manthey EMA started the 2024 DTM season at Oschersleben. Reigning Drivers' Champion Thomas Preining (Austria) moved up six positions to tenth place at the season opener and finished the second race on Sunday in 13th place. All in all, the expectations of the reigning DTM champion team for the first sprint race weekend of the new season were not met. A flawless performance by the entire Manthey EMA crew, the execution of the fastest pit stops of the weekend and clever strategy decisions secured important points at the start of the DTM season despite the lack of pace of the cars.

In the first qualifying session on the 3.667-kilometre race track near Magdeburg, the nine-eleven team was unable to keep up with the pace of the competition and finished 16th (#91) and 18th (#90) on the grid. Thanks to a strategic overcut during the pit stop and a quick tyre change, Thomas Preining made up five places and finished in the points. After a late safety car period, triggered by the retirement of a car in front, the Austrian finally finished the race in tenth place in the number 91 nine-eleven. Team-mate Ayhancan Güven crossed the finish line in fourteenth place and, just like his teammate, secured his first championship points on his DTM debut with Manthey EMA. He also benefited from a strong performance from the pit crew, who completed the fastest mandatory pit stop of the weekend.

In the course of the chaotic start phase of Sunday's race, Preining was able to improve from 17th on the grid to 13th place. Güven, who had started the race from 20th place, moved up to 17th place. Until the pit stop window opened, neither car was able to improve any further. Thanks to the team's pit stop strategy and an undercut at the pit stop, the number 90 car made up 90 places and rejoined the track in 14th place after the tyre change, directly behind the sister car. In these positions, both drivers finished the race in the points.

"A very demanding DTM season opener for us. We are not satisfied with the results of the weekend. On the positive side, we made the fastest pit stops and, in combination with a good strategy, made up a few places and scored points in both races. It was a flawless weekend for the whole team. The drivers did a very good job and were happy with the balance of the cars and the progress we were able to make over the course of the weekend. Unfortunately, none of this was enough to keep up with the competition. We now have to analyse the reasons for this so that we can be at the front again at the next event. The pace of the cars and the results of this weekend do not meet our expectations and do not reflect the abilities of our team and our drivers," explains Nicolas Raeder, Managing Director of Manthey Racing GmbH.

In the team standings, Manthey EMA is in eighth place with 15 points after the first two races. Thomas Preining is 12th in the drivers' standings with nine points, while Ayhancan Güven is 17th with four championship points.

The next DTM race will take place in four weeks' time from 24 to 26 May 2024 at the Lausitzring.

Quotes on the DTM race at Oschersleben:
Ayhancan Güven, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90: "The first DTM weekend is over. Certainly not with the result we expected when we came to Oschersleben. Nevertheless, we worked very well together as a team and I felt very comfortable in the car in both races. In the end, I'm happy to have scored my first points with the team, but at the same time disappointed that we couldn't fight for a top ten result in both races. Now we will focus on the next race, analyse the weekend and see how we can improve. Many thanks to the whole team, it was really fun to work with everyone and I'm looking forward to the next race at the Lausitzring."

Thomas Preining, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91: "Based on previous results at Oschersleben, we arrived with the hope of being very competitive on the track. However, the weekend did not go according to our expectations. We were actually very happy with our own performance over the whole weekend. Ayhancan and I get along very well, which is very important for the rest of the season. We worked very well together as a whole team and the pit stops, the car and the strategy were top-notch. As if there hadn't been a winter, we picked up where we left off last year. Unfortunately, not in terms of the results. We lacked pace all weekend. In the end, however, we got the maximum out of what was possible this weekend."

DTM Race 1 results at Oschersleben:
10th Thomas Preining, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91
14th Ayhancan Güven, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90

DTM Race 2 results at Oschersleben:
13th Thomas Preining, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91
14th Ayhancan Güven, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90

DTM race calendar 2024:
26/04/2024 – 28/04/2024 Motorsport Arena Oschersleben
24/05/2024 – 26/05/2024 DEKRA Lausitzring
07/06/2024 – 09/06/2024 Circuit Zandvoort / NL
05/07/2024 – 07/07/2024 Norisring
16/08/2024 – 18/08/2024 Nürburgring
06/09/2024 – 08/09/2024 Sachsenring
27/09/2024 Red Bull Ring / A
18/10/2024 – 20/10/2024 Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg

Sorce: Manthey Racing