ZANDVOORT, The Netherlands — Ayhancan Güven (TR/Manthey EMA) kept his cool in his Porsche 911 GT3 R during a turbulent fifth round of the championship in changeable weather.
The speedy Turk made no mistakes on either the wet or dry track at Zandvoort in the Netherlands and celebrated his second DTM victory on Saturday after 34 laps, narrowly ahead of Lamborghini driver Nicki Thiim by 0.3 seconds.
“What an incredible race! To have won after a duel with Nicki Thiim is a special feeling for me. I was a huge fan of his as a child,” said Güven. Lamborghini drivers Nicki Thiim (DK/Abt Sportsline) and Maximilian Paul (Dresden/Paul Motorsport) followed in second and third place.
The race began in difficult conditions: Although the rain had stopped, the fifth race of the season began on a wet track. Güven, in the Porsche 911 GT3 R, moved up from fifth to third on the first lap – behind pole-setter Jordan Pepper (ZA) and Luca Engstler (Kempten/both TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT) in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2.
As the race progressed, the asphalt dried out more and more. Güven was one of the first drivers to complete his mandatory pit stop and change to slicks. Shortly afterward, things became hectic in the pit lane, as many drivers were getting new tires at the same time. Pepper, who had built up a large lead up to this point, lost over 13 seconds and fell back for the remainder of the race.
Thiim, however, benefited from a late tire change and returned to the Formula 1 track near Amsterdam in the lead.
However, with his tires still cold, he was unable to hold on to the lead against the onrushing Güven. Shortly before the end of the race, the safety car was deployed following a slip-up by BMW driver René Rast (Bregenz/Schubert Motorsport).
After the restart, Güven defended his lead and crossed the finish line first, ahead of the three Lamborghinis of Thiim, Paul, and Engstler. Paul thus secured the first DTM podium for his family racing team, Paul Motorsport. Lucas Auer (A/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf), thanks to his experience, worked his way up to fifth place in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and thus defended his lead in the standings.
Local hero Morris Schuring (NL) finished sixth in front of his home crowd in the Manthey Junior Team’s 911. Just 0.017 seconds behind, Marco Wittmann (Fürth/Schubert Motorsport) finished seventh as the best BMW driver, gaining 13 positions after a strong recovery.
Polesitter Pepper had to settle for eighth place, while fellow BMW driver Mirko Bortolotti (I/Abt Sportsline) finished ninth. Maro Engel (Monaco/Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing) dropped from second to tenth in his Mercedes-AMG GT3 after an unfortunate race.
