Guven wins after last-lap drama at the Sachsenring

Manthey-Porsche driver Ayhancan Guven may have entered the final lap in third place, but a mistake from his team-mate Thomas Preining shook the DTM race at Sachsenring up and handed Guven his third win of the year.  

Preining had been the man of the race before a collision ended his reign. The 2023 DTM champion started from eighth on the grid and fought his way up to third with a strong opening phase and a perfect pit stop. 

In the closing laps, the Manthey-Porsche driver first overtook second place Jules Gounon (Winward-Mercedes) and shortly after also passed Jordan Pepper (Grasser-Lamborghini) to take the lead. The Austrian looked as if the win was inevitable, before he collided with polesitter Pepper on the final corner of the penultimate lap. 

Preining loses victory on the last lap 

Pepper wanted to seize the opportunity: the South African was able to slip back past the “Grello” Porsche on the start-finish straight, which Preining tried to prevent at all costs. However, he braked too late and pushed Pepper off the track, which Guven coolly exploited. He took the lead and snatched victory. 

“Yes, I could literally smell it,” Guven smiled afterwards on ran.de. “Already, from the last corner, when Preining made the mistake, it was clear to me: in Turn 1, last lap, something is going to happen. 

“Two cars in front of me, so I positioned myself perfectly, the situation came my way, and I used it.” 

“Up until that moment it was already a strong race: from P9 to P3, saving the car, staying calm at the restart,” summarised the Porsche driver. “In the last two laps on a drying track, you never know what will happen. But I stayed cool and took my chance.” 

After starting on pole. Pepper was able to save second place at the line, followed by Jack Aitken (Emil Frey Ferrari), who completed the podium. Preining finished fourth, ahead of Jules Gounon (Winward-Mercedes) and Land-Audi driver Ricardo Feller in sixth. 

Marco Wittmann (Schubert-BMW) took seventh position, while Fabio Scherer (HRT-Ford) surprised with eighth place. Maro Engel (Winward-Mercedes) and Lucas Auer (Landgraf-Mercedes) rounded out the top 10, with the Austrian losing his championship lead as a result.  

Heavy rain causes start delay 

Just before the start, a heavy downpour swept across Hohenstein-Ernstthal, soaking the circuit and leading to a 10-minute delay to the start of the race. After two formation laps were completed, the tyre choice was obvious: all drivers went out on wets. 

Thomas Preining, Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3-R

Photo by: ADAC Motorsport

When the race eventually got underway, the grid mostly got away without incident – despite the tricky conditions. Pepper took the lead, followed by Ben Green and Jules Gounon. Maro Engel had to serve a penalty lap for a jump start, which dropped him to the back of the pack. 

As the track began drying, Gounon coped best with the conditions and the AMG driver soon overtook the Emil Frey Ferrari of Green and closed in on leader Pepper. 

There were also fierce battles in the midfield: Jack Aitken took fifth from Lucas Auer, while Maro Engel and Rene Rast fought over 13th. After the start, Preining first passed Marco Wittmann’s Schubert-BMW and then Auer. 

No change after pit stops  

When the pit window opened after 20 minutes, no driver came in for tires. The track was drying rapidly, but still too wet for a switch to slicks. The big question: when would it be dry enough to make the mandatory pit stop? 

While everyone watching waited for an answer, Luca Engstler and Green fought hard over third place. The beneficiary was Aitken, who managed to pass the Grasser-Lamborghini driver, while Preining also caught up with the trio and passed Engstler as well – dropping the German back to sixth. 

Luca Engstler, Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán EVO GT3

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz

Then the moment came: Rast and Maini were the first to pit for slicks – a decision that paid off immediately. Shortly after, the Schubert-BMW driver set a sector best that prompted more drivers to follow his lead. 

At that point, slicks were the faster tyre, but required finesse – something not every driver had on Saturday: Vermeulen, Kalender, and Auer all went off into the gravel after a mistake and lost valuable time, some even positions.  

While drivers fell by the wayside further back, the stops did little to change the order up front. Polesitter Pepper led the field after the switch to slicks, followed by Gounon. Behind them, Preining was in third thanks to his strong opening phase and his team’s perfect pit work. 

But the 2023 DTM champion wasn’t done yet: he first overtook Gounon and was already right on the tail of the leader. But a spin by Nicolas Baert (Comtoyou-Aston Martin) brought the safety car out again in the closing stages. 

After the restart, Preining managed to take the lead, and looked like a nailed-on winner. However, he made a crucial mistake on the final lap, and Guven profited to claim his third win of the season. 

Rain did make an unwelcome return in the closing stages of the race, but a gamble for new slicks from Arjun Maini and Tom Kalender didn’t pay off.  

After the chequered flag fell, Pepper failed to take the lead of the standings despite his second place. Instead, the Grasser-Lamborghini driver is tied on points with Aitken at the top, but the Emil Frey Ferrari driver has more wins to his name. Lucas Auer dropped to third place. 

The second DTM race at the Sachsenring is still to come on Sunday, with no further rain forecast. 

DTM Sachsenring – Race 1 results