Manthey shows the U.S. what made it legendary with Sebring win

Only two races into its first IMSA endurance campaign, Manthey demonstrated with its GTD Pro class win at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring the quality that has made the German team a formidable, perennial contender in many other series and major endurance races – and applied them successfully in the U.S.

The No. 911 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Thomas Preining, Klaus Bachler, and Ricardo Feller led a Porsche 1-2 finish in GTD Pro to match the 1-2 overall result from Porsche Penske Motorsport; Preining and Feller got their first IMSA wins, while Bachler has now won the last three Twelve Hours he’s entered since 2023.

It’s also the first IMSA win for the newest evolution of the Porsche 911 GT3 R, the 992.2 model which made its race debut at the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

“I'm really speechless,” says Bachler, who won in 2023 with Pfaff Motorsports and last year with AO Racing. “I really hoped we can win this race after a tough Daytona, I have to say.

“I had such a good feeling going into this week. In the end, it worked out: We were fast when it counted. We had the car, we had zero problems. I mean, really reliable everything. Perfect stops. Perfect strategy. Both of my teammates drove really brilliant, zero mistakes.”

Co-driver Thomas Preining would take the lead from AO Racing’s Harry King around the outside of turn one with 90 minutes to go. Preining held the lead through two full course yellows and restarts, and reset the fastest lap of the race multiple times during the final hour.

Victory at Sebring adds another champter to Manthey's – and the 'Grello' 911's – illustrious history. Michael L. Levitt/IMSA photo

“I got him at the restart with one and a half hours to go in turn one,” says 2023 DTM champion Preining. “After that, I knew we had a fuel or energy disadvantage. I had to go all in. Every lap was a quali lap until the last pit stop.

“I think the safety car would have been quite painful then, but everything happened in the right way for us at the end,” said Preining. “We were able to play our cards really well. We needed a quick car, which we had.”

For Feller, it’s his first win for Manthey behind the wheel of its world-famous “Grello”, the signature livery which has adorned all seven of Manthey’s 24 Hours of Nürburgring overall wins.

“Grello is something special within all the Porsche cars,” says Feller. “Every Porsche driver wants to drive it. Of course, if you win a race with it, it's already great.

“It's not so easy for a German team to get all the people here, to get all the equipment here, to compete against teams that know the structure in IMSA, which is kind of very different to what we're used in Europe. It's not so easy to compete against them. I think the team did a great job with that.

“And now this is the beginning of a new chapter for the Grello in the U.S. That's the first victory. I'm pretty sure it won't be the last one,” he proclaims.

Manthey’s No. 911 Porsche is currently tied for first in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD Pro standings with the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW, but Manthey won’t be at the upcoming Monterey SportsCar Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca as it stands, having only committed to the Michelin Endurance Cup. In the Endurance Cup, “Grello” is second in the standings.

The No. 912 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche led GTD often during the second half of the race, but any hope of a double victory was dashed after the second Manthey Porsche retired with 30 minutes to go after a collision with the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW.

Both cars will return for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen in June.