Ayhancan Güven became the first Turkish driver to be crowned DTM champion in a dramatic finale at the Hockenheimring. The 27-year-old kept the upper hand in a hard-fought duel in the final phase of Sunday's race. Güven's Manthey EMA teammate Thomas Preining, also a former Porsche Junior, had previously won Saturday's race.

The 2023 DTM champion finishes the season in fourth place in the overall standings. Manthey Junior Team driver Morris Schuring celebrated the best result of his young DTM career so far with third place on Saturday and secured the title of "Rookie of the Year". On Saturday, the Porsche customer team Manthey had already won the DTM teams' classification for the second time.

The race

With a courageous manoeuvre when braking for the Sachs corner at the Motodrom at Hockenheim, Ayhancan Güven secured victory in Sunday's race and thus also the 2025 DTM drivers' title. The driver of the No. 92 Porsche 911 GT3 R became the first Turkish champion in the championship's more than 40-year history. From second on the grid, the 27-year-old had taken the lead after the first lap of the performance pit stops, which he maintained after the second mandatory tyre change. A safety car phase a few minutes before crossing the finish line brought Marco Wittmann back within striking distance as the first pursuer. The BMW rider was able to take the lead for a short time on the final lap at the entrance to the Motodrom, but only a few metres later he had to admit defeat to the determined Güven.

"An unbelievable heart-stopping finale - that was an amazing thriller! There is hardly a better advertisement for motorsport!" emphasises Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. "We are incredibly happy that Ayhancan Güven was able to win the championship. Congratulations and big compliments to the Manthey team, but of course also to our drivers Ayhancan Güven, Thomas Preining and last but not least to Morris Schuring, who won the rookie classification. Manthey also won the team classification. Thank you and congratulations to all the supporters on site and also at Porsche Motorsport in Weissach who made this success possible. We can be super proud!"

While Güven was eight points behind before the start of Sunday's race, his Manthey EMA teammate Thomas Preining went into the race with a deficit of only three points to the leader of the standings. From eleventh place on the grid, however, the 2023 DTM champion was no longer able to intervene decisively in the title fight. The Austrian finished the final race of the season in sixth place. Starting from seventh on the grid, Dutch Manthey Junior Team driver Morris Schuring dropped back a long way after a collision on the first lap through no fault of his own. He finished the race in 14th place and thus clinched the title of "Rookie of the Year".

Customer team Manthey crowned team champion on Saturday

Saturday's race started about half an hour later than originally planned due to torrential rainfall. Thomas Preining coped well with the difficult conditions on the wet asphalt of the Hockenheimring. On lap eight, the Manthey EMA driver took the lead, gradually extended it and finally won with a lead of almost 17 seconds. Morris Schuring fought for second place until the finish line, which he missed by only two tenths of a second. With third place, the Dutch rookie celebrated the best result of his still young DTM career – and thus also secured the Porsche customer team's early win of this year's team championship, the second after 2023.

"A very impressive season with many ups and downs lies behind us," Nicolas Raeder, Managing Director of Manthey Racing GmbH, looks back. "The number of times Ayhancan and Thomas have taken turns in the team's internal leadership is actually unbelievable. Seven wins in one year is an outstanding result, we won almost every second race. I almost didn't dare to believe that we would win this brutally exciting final. I'm impressed by how our team works under pressure."

"Victory in the final race of the season was not given to us. Ayhancan Güven fought for the title with a lion's heart through the decisive manoeuvre and prevailed in terms of driving," says Sebastian Golz, Project Manager Porsche 911 GT3 R. "From the preparation of the Porsche 911 GT3 R to the pit stops, the team did an absolutely flawless job, there was nothing left to improve. Our three drivers worked together mega. On Saturday, Thomas Preining was able to prove his talent in the rain with an impressive performance and take the victory. Morris Schuring also showed a great performance in difficult conditions this weekend. From our point of view, the whole year was up and down. This weekend, we were able to finish in the leading group in qualifying for the first time because Manthey, the drivers and we got everything to the point and squeezed out the last bit of performance."

With seven first places, Porsche ends the 16-race DTM season in 2025 as by far the most victorious manufacturer. Five other brands each won at least one race of the season, but none of them won more than three. Ayhancan Güven was the first to see the black-and-white checkered flag five times, and Thomas Preining climbed to the top step of the winner's podium twice.

Quotes after the races

Ayhancan Güven (Manthey EMA, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90): "I've been working towards this kind of success since I started motorsport as a five-year-old. To have won this title at the age of 27 is not only very important for me, but also for my family, my fans and my home country. For me, it was clear before the race that I only had a realistic chance of winning the title with a win. That was my goal. I forbade myself all arithmetic games during the race and was not interested in what the others were doing. When Marco Wittmann overtook me on the last lap, my team radioed me that I had to win. So I used the tiny gap in the Motodrom and squeezed past again."

Thomas Preining (Manthey EMA, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91): "I'm a bit disappointed with fourth place in the overall standings. On the other hand, it's a much better result than we could have expected in between. I had three absences that we couldn't do anything about, and we also dropped one or two points otherwise. The fact that we were still in the title race until the end is a positive sign. Congratulations to Can! He went full throttle – really cool! I'll attack again next year to win my second DTM title."

Morris Schuring (Manthey Junior Team, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92): "I'm very proud of my first DTM podium – I've achieved my goal for the season. Unfortunately, Sunday's race didn't go so well. I got a hard hit right in the first round. But the team did a great job getting my Porsche 911 GT3 R back on the track. So I was able to collect more points for the rookie classification and secure this title. That rounds off what I think is a great first DTM season. I'm very happy."

Result race 15

1. Thomas Preining (AUT), Manthey EMA, Porsche #91, 32 laps
2. Ricardo Feller (CHE), Land Motorsport, Audi #29, +16.899 seconds
3. Morris Schuring (NLD), Manthey Junior Team, Porsche #92, +17.009 seconds
5. Ayhancan Güven (TUR), Manthey EMA, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90, +22.522 seconds