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Manthey EMA kicks off the 2024 DTM season at Hockenheimring

• Manthey EMA collects valuable test data over 6 hours and 15 minutes in four test sessions at the 4.574km long Hockenheimring
• New driver line-up with Ayhancan Güven and last year's DTM Champion Thomas Preining at the wheel of the #90 and #91 Porsche 911 GT3 R for the first time
• Extensive media activities completed in preparation for the start of the 2024 season

Manthey EMA presented the new driver line-up for the 2024 DTM season for the first time during the Test and Media Days at the Hockenheimring. The two Porsche 911 GT3 R, #90 and #91, collected important test kilometres on the 4.574-kilometre track, which will also host the season finale later this year. In addition to the test programme, last year's champion Thomas Preining (Austria) and his new teammate Ayhancan Güven (Turkey) had numerous media activities on their agenda in preparation for the new season.

This week’s pre-season test gave DTM teams the opportunity to complete numerous laps on the circuit in Baden-Württemberg across four test sessions, with a total of more than six hours of driving time. The team collected important data for the upcoming 16 championship races, completing various pit stop, yellow phase, and start simulations. The aim of the test programme was to prepare the interaction between drivers, engineers, and mechanics for the season opener in Oschersleben. For Porsche driver Ayhancan Güven, it was his first DTM outing for the team after winning the Bathurst 12 Hours with Manthey EMA in February.

In addition to the on-track activities, numerous media activities took place off-track throughout the event. Journalists had the opportunity to interview the drivers, live and in person, in the Mixed Media Zones. Together with ADAC motorsport director Thomas Voss, and DTM vice-champion Mirko Bortolotti, Thomas Preining was a guest at the opening press conference for the 2024 season. Extensive TV and media material was also produced.

Twenty drivers, eleven teams and seven manufacturers will open the 40th anniversary season of the sprint series at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, over the weekend, 26-28 April. Next up for Manthey EMA, along with Thomas Preining and Ayhancan Güven, are the ADAC 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers, 13-14 April 2024.

Quotes on the DTM test and media days 2024:

Ayhancan Güven, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90: “We are done here at Hockenheim with two days of official testing for the 2024 DTM. I think we had a pretty positive two days, testing a lot of the aspects that we had identified before the event. Throughout the event we had some media activities and then on the track we worked through our plans and did different simulation runs for qualifying, race and other situations as well as pit stop practices. Overall, it was great to be part of the team and experience the atmosphere here and it all looks very promising. I'm really looking forward to the first race of the 2024 DTM at Oschersleben in three weeks' time!”

Thomas Preining, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91: "I'm very happy with the DTM test. It's great to finally be working with the team again. They say: 'Never change a running system', but with part of last year's DTM team now competing in the WEC with Manthey, we have done that to a certain extent. Despite this change, things couldn't have gone better. Everyone in the team does their job very well and knows exactly what they have to do. Things went very well on track, as well. We ticked off our test points and did a lot of laps. I think we are in a very good position for the first race.

Patrick Arkenau, Division Manager Racing, Manthey Racing GmbH: "We are very satisfied with the first two DTM test days of the year. It was very important for us to familiarise the team with the DTM-specific procedures. For example, we wanted to transfer the qualifying format and the pit stops, which we practised at home over the winter, into reality in order to identify weak points and go into the first race in the best possible way. The second objective was to get the drivers used to the DTM sprint format, which is different from many other formats. Both of these things worked brilliantly and we are very happy with where we are now. The actual performance of the field cannot be concluded from the results of such a test. All the more reason for us to look forward to the season opener at Oschersleben."

DTM Race Calendar 2024:

26-28.04.2024 Oschersleben Motorsport Arena
24-26.05.2024 DEKRA Lausitzring
07-09.06.2024 Circuit Zandvoort / NL
05-07.07.2024 Norisring
16-18.08.2024 Nürburgring
06-08.09.2024 Sachsenring
27-29.09.2024 Red Bull Ring / A
18-20.10.2024 Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg