Manthey EMA maintains lead in DTM championship at the Lausitzring

By EMA Motorsport
Aug 21^st, 2023

Manthey EMA scores points with both Porsches on Saturday and Sunday
Top-five result for #90 and #91 in Sunday's race
Manthey EMA remains at the top of the DTM team standings

Meuspath. A challenging weekend for Manthey EMA in the DTM at the Lausitzring, although both drivers finished in the points on both Saturday and Sunday in high summer temperatures. After a difficult first race on Saturday, Thomas Preining (Austria) and Dennis Olsen (Norway) finished in the top five in Sunday's race. While Manthey EMA continues to lead the team standings, Preining drops back to second place in the drivers' championship after this weekend. Norwegian Olsen moves up to seventh overall.

On Saturday morning, Manthey EMA's two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs took to the 3.478-kilometre sprint circuit in Klettwitz for the first Qualifying. However, the cars were unable to match the pace of the front runners: With a lap time of 1:20.465 minutes, Thomas Preining placed the #91 in 16th overall, with teammate Olsen following two positions behind with 1:20.495 minutes. In the starting phase of the race, Preining came into contact with two other competitors, which led to a collision and was punished relatively severely with three penalty laps. The Austrian completed these in race laps five to seven, and initially dropped to the back of the field. Dennis Olsen continued to make up places from the start in the ninth DTM race, finishing the race in 12th place after 44 laps. Despite his penalty, Thomas Preining also made it into the points in 15th place. The Manthey EMA crew also completed the fastest pitstop of the day.

The second race day started under better conditions for the team. Despite the interruption of qualifying on Sunday, Preining managed to secure fifth place on the grid with a lap time of 1:21.153 minutes. Dennis Olsen started the second round of the DTM at the Lausitzring in 12th place with a time of 1:21.440 minutes. Within the first few minutes of the race, the Norwegian had moved the #90 up five positions. After two cars in front of the Grello Porsches dropped out of the race, and faultless pit stops of the Manthey EMA crew, Preining and Olsen took positions four and five. The two Porsche drivers held these positions until the end of the just over one-hour-long race, taking the chequered flag just seconds apart.

While Manthey EMA continues to lead the DTM team ranking (198 points), Preining drops to second place in the drivers' standings after this weekend, seven points behind the leader (131 points). Dennis Olsen improved by one place to seventh overall with 78 points.

The sixth round of the DTM will take place in just under three weeks from 8th to 10th September 2023 at the Sachsenring.

Quotes on the DTM at Lausitzring:

Nicolas Raeder, Managing Director Manthey Racing GmbH: “We entered the weekend at the Lausitzring with optimism. But with the results in the first qualifying session and the severe penalty for Thomas' collision in the race on Saturday, we fell far short of our expectations. Things went much better for Thomas in qualifying on Sunday with fifth place. Dennis, who started the race from twelfth on the grid, made a sensational move up to fifth place. Together with Thomas in fourth place, we were able to collect important points for the team standings. Unfortunately, Thomas lost the lead in the championship, but we hope to reclaim it at the Sachsenring.”

Dennis Olsen, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90: “If you look at the championship standings, it was a good weekend for us overall: Even if it wasn't as many as we'd hoped for, we scored points in both races. But qualifying is still our weak point. We got as much as we could out of both races, but we just couldn't get to the front this weekend. At least we stayed out of trouble and there was no damage to the car. Now we are focusing on the Sachsenring and preparing for the races there. I hope we can come back stronger there.”

Thomas Preining, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91: “It was a challenging weekend at the Lausitzring. We certainly hoped for more and especially on Saturday we suffered a setback as far as the championship is concerned. First of all, qualifying didn't go as planned, followed by the harsh penalty in the race. In qualifying on Sunday, we were able to take advantage of the interruption due to the red flag and secure a place on the third row of the grid. We fought from the first to the last lap of the race and made the most of it by finishing fourth. That's something to be proud of.”

Team standings after 8 of 16 rounds: