Güven shows nerves of steel in Zandvoort to claim DTM win

Ayhancan Güven (Manthey EMA) kept a cool head at the wheel of his Porsche 911 GT3 R in a turbulent fifth race of the DTM season, which took place in unsettled weather conditions. The rapid Turk was flawless in the wet and the dry at Zandvoort, the Netherlands. After 34 laps of racing on Saturday, Güven crossed the finish line with a slender 0.3s lead over Lamborghini driver Nicki Thiim to claim his second victory in the DTM.

"What an unbelievable race! To win after a battle with Nicki Thiim feels special to me. I was a huge fan of him as a kid," said Güven.

Thiim (Abt Sportsline) and Maximilian Paul (Paul Motorsport Lamborghini) followed in second and third places.

Conditions were tough at the start of the race: the rain may have stopped, but race five of the season began on a wet track. Güven immediately climbed from fifth to third place on lap one in his Porsche 911 GT3 R – behind pole-sitter Jordan Pepper and Luca Engstler (both TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT) in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2.

As the race progressed, the asphalt started to dry out. Güven was one of the first to come in for his mandatory pit stops, during which he switched to slicks. Shortly thereafter, the pit lane became hectic as many drivers came in for new tires at the same time. Pepper, who had opened a big lead at the front of the race by this point, lost over 13 seconds in the chaos, and then dropped back through the field over the remainder of the race.

In contrast, Thiim, benefited from a late tire change, rejoining the race at the Formula 1 circuit near Amsterdam as the new leader. However, while still on cold tires he was unable to defend his lead against the onrushing Güven.

Shortly before the end of the race, the safety car was called upon after an incident involving BMW driver René Rast (Schubert Motorsport). Güven defended his lead at the restart and went on to take the checkered flag ahead of the three Lamborghinis of Thiim, Paul and Engstler. Paul claimed the first DTM podium for his family team Paul Motorsport. Lucas Auer (Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf) used his experience to climb into fifth place in the Mercedes-AMG, and consequently held onto his lead at the top of the table.

Pole-sitter Pepper had to settle for eighth place after rain reset the order.

Local favorite Morris Schuring was sixth in front of his home crowd in the 911 run by the Manthey Junior Team. Marco Wittmann (Schubert Motorsport) crossed the finish line just 0.017s later as the best-placed BMW driver, having produced an impressive fightback and gained 13 positions. Pole-sitter Pepper had to settle for eighth place, while his teammate Mirko Bortolotti was ninth. Maro Engel (Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing) dropped back from second to 10th place after a tough race in his Mercedes-AMG GT3.

"We switched to slicks early on, which was key to the win," said Güven. "Some drivers only came in later during a short shower, and then had issues getting their tires up to the right temperature quickly."

Thiim admitted that "opting for slicks from the start was a big risk. However, I realized that it was the right tactic after just a few laps. Without the safety car phase, we could have got the win. Despite this, I am incredibly proud to have claimed the first DTM podium in the new Lamborghini era at Abt Sportsline."

RESULTS

DTM race 2 at Zandvoort airs live Sunday morning on RACER Network at 10:30am ET. For listings of all the live support race action available on the RACER+ App, CLICK HERE.