Manthey-Porsche driver Ayhancan Guven could have entered the ultimate lap in third place, however a mistake from his team-mate Thomas Preining shook the DTM race at Sachsenring up and handed Guven his third win of the yr.
Preining had been the person of the race earlier than a collision ended his reign. The 2023 DTM champion began from eighth on the grid and fought his method as much as third with a robust opening part and an ideal pit cease.
Within the closing laps, the Manthey-Porsche driver first overtook second place Jules Gounon (Winward-Mercedes) and shortly after additionally handed Jordan Pepper (Grasser-Lamborghini) to take the lead. The Austrian seemed as if the win was inevitable, earlier than he collided with polesitter Pepper on the ultimate nook of the penultimate lap.
Preining loses victory on the final lap
Pepper needed to grab the chance: the South African was in a position to slip again previous the “Grello” Porsche on the start-finish straight, which Preining tried to forestall in any respect prices. Nonetheless, he braked too late and pushed Pepper off the monitor, which Guven coolly exploited. He took the lead and snatched victory.
“Sure, I might actually odor it,” Guven smiled afterwards on ran.de. “Already, from the final nook, when Preining made the error, it was clear to me: in Flip 1, final lap, one thing goes to occur.
Ben Dörr, Dörr Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo
Picture by: Alexander Trienitz
“Two automobiles in entrance of me, so I positioned myself completely, the state of affairs got here my method, and I used it.”
“Up till that second it was already a robust race: from P9 to P3, saving the automobile, staying calm on the restart,” summarised the Porsche driver. “Within the final two laps on a drying monitor, you by no means know what’s going to occur. However I stayed cool and took my probability.”
After beginning on pole. Pepper was in a position to save second place on the line, adopted by Jack Aitken (Emil Frey Ferrari), who accomplished the rostrum. Preining completed fourth, forward of Jules Gounon (Winward-Mercedes) and Land-Audi driver Ricardo Feller in sixth.
Marco Wittmann (Schubert-BMW) took seventh place, whereas Fabio Scherer (HRT-Ford) stunned with eighth place. Maro Engel (Winward-Mercedes) and Lucas Auer (Landgraf-Mercedes) rounded out the highest 10, with the Austrian dropping his championship lead in consequence.
Heavy rain causes begin delay
Simply earlier than the beginning, a heavy downpour swept throughout Hohenstein-Ernstthal, soaking the circuit and resulting in a 10-minute delay to the beginning of the race. After two formation laps had been accomplished, the tyre selection was apparent: all drivers went out on wets.
Thomas Preining, Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3-R, Jordan Pepper, Grasser Racing Staff Lamborghini Huracán
Picture by: Alexander Trienitz
When the race ultimately received underway, the grid largely received away with out incident – regardless of the tough situations. Pepper took the lead, adopted by Ben Inexperienced and Jules Gounon. Maro Engel needed to serve a penalty lap for a soar begin, which dropped him to the again of the pack.
Because the monitor started drying, Gounon coped greatest with the situations and the AMG driver quickly overtook the Emil Frey Ferrari of Inexperienced and closed in on chief Pepper.
There have been additionally fierce battles within the midfield: Jack Aitken took fifth from Lucas Auer, whereas Maro Engel and Rene Rast fought over thirteenth. After the beginning, Preining first handed Marco Wittmann’s Schubert-BMW after which Auer.
Watch: 2025 DTM – Spherical 6 – Sachsenring: Race 1 highlights
No change after pit stops
When the pit window opened after 20 minutes, no driver got here in for tires. The monitor was drying quickly, however nonetheless too moist for a swap to slicks. The large query: when wouldn’t it be dry sufficient to make the obligatory pit cease?
Whereas everybody watching waited for a solution, Luca Engstler and Inexperienced fought arduous over third place. The beneficiary was Aitken, who managed to move the Grasser-Lamborghini driver, whereas Preining additionally caught up with the trio and handed Engstler as nicely – dropping the German again to sixth.
Luca Engstler, Grasser Racing Staff Lamborghini Huracán EVO GT3, Jack Aitken, Emil Frey Racing Ferrari Ferrari 296 GT3
Picture by: Alexander Trienitz
Then the second got here: Rast and Maini had been the primary to pit for slicks – a call that paid off instantly. Shortly after, the Schubert-BMW driver set a sector greatest that prompted extra drivers to comply with his lead.
At that time, slicks had been the quicker tyre, however required finesse – one thing not each driver had on Saturday: Vermeulen, Kalender, and Auer all went off into the gravel after a mistake and misplaced priceless time, some even positions.
Whereas drivers fell by the wayside additional again, the stops did little to vary the order up entrance. Polesitter Pepper led the sector after the swap to slicks, adopted by Gounon. Behind them, Preining was in third due to his sturdy opening part and his workforce’s excellent pit work.
However the 2023 DTM champion wasn’t completed but: he first overtook Gounon and was already proper on the tail of the chief. However a spin by Nicolas Baert (Comtoyou-Aston Martin) introduced the protection automobile out once more within the closing levels.
After the restart, Preining managed to take the lead, and seemed like a nailed-on winner. Nonetheless, he made an important mistake on the ultimate lap, and Guven profited to say his third win of the season.
Learn Additionally:
Rain did make an unwelcome return within the closing levels of the race, however a raffle for brand new slicks from Arjun Maini and Tom Kalender didn’t repay.
After the chequered flag fell, Pepper didn’t take the lead of the standings regardless of his second place. As an alternative, the Grasser-Lamborghini driver is tied on factors with Aitken on the high, however the Emil Frey Ferrari driver has extra wins to his title. Lucas Auer dropped to 3rd place.
The second DTM race on the Sachsenring remains to be to return on Sunday, with no additional rain forecast.
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DTM Sachsenring – Race 1 outcomes
1
90
Porsche 911 GT3 R
38
25
2
J. Pepper TGI Staff Lamborghini by GRT
63
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2
38
2.574
20
3
14
Ferrari 296 GT3
38
0.412
16
4
91
Porsche 911 GT3 R
38
0.442
13
5
48
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo
38
1.829
11
6
29
Audi R8 LMS Evo II
38
0.977
10
7
11
BMW M4 GT3 Evo
38
0.655
9
8
64
Ford Mustang GT3
38
1.413
8
9
24
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo
38
0.517
7
10
22
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo
38
0.517
6
11
19
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2
38
0.174
5
12
71
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2
38
0.522
4
13
16
McLaren 720S GT3 Evo
38
0.295
3
14
33
BMW M4 GT3 Evo
38
0.398
2
15
1
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2
38
0.700
1
16
2
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2
38
0.779
17
M. Schuring Manthey Junior Staff
92
Porsche 911 GT3 R
38
0.154
18
7
Aston Martin Vantage GT3
38
0.369
19
B. Dörr Dörr Motorsport
25
McLaren 720S GT3 Evo
38
0.131
20
36
Ford Mustang GT3
38
9.881
21
T. Kalender Mercedes-AMG Staff Landgraf
84
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo
38
16.845
dnf
B. Inexperienced Emil Frey Racing
10
Ferrari 296 GT3
37
dnf
T. Vermeulen Emil Frey Racing
69
Ferrari 296 GT3
31
dnf
N. Baert Comtoyou Racing
8
Aston Martin Vantage GT3
30
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