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Manthey EMA triumphs in Sunday's DTM race at the Norisring

• First season win for Thomas Preining and Manthey EMA in the second race
• Dennis Olsen takes his first podium of the season with third place in Saturday's race
• Manthey EMA and Porsche lead team, driver and manufacturer standings

Meuspath. With a debut victory and an additional podium finish, Manthey EMA looks back on a successful DTM weekend at the Norisring. Thomas Preining (Austria) took his first DTM win of the season at the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 R in Sunday's race at Germany's only street circuit. Dennis Olsen (Norway) finished the previous day on the podium in third place for the first time in the 2023 season. Manthey EMA and Porsche now lead the DTM team, driver and manufacturer standings after six rounds.

Due to the large entry field on the 2.2-kilometre Nuremberg circuit, Saturday's qualifying session was split into two starting groups. These were formed based on the results of the two free practice sessions held the preceding day. Thomas Preining started in Group A, ahead of Dennis Olsen in Group B. With a lap time of 48.933 seconds, the Austrian secured provisional pole position, but went into the first sprint race of the weekend as the runner-up in the overall qualifying standings. The Norwegian Olsen covered the street circuit in 48.993 seconds making him eleventh on the starting grid. In the early stages of the race, Preining lost four positions in the number 91 Porsche, so that for a few laps he was sixth, directly in front of his teammate Olsen. About halfway through the 60-minute race, the latter came into the pit lane and, after his pit stop, clinched third place overall and his first podium finish of the current season in a race that saw the fiercely contested field at the Norisring chasing each other. Problems during Thomas Preining's pit stop caused him to drop further down the order and he took the chequered flag in twelfth place.

Manthey EMA started Sunday with an improved qualifying result compared to the previous day. Dennis Olsen, whose group was the first to go for the best lap times and grid positions, clocked a time of 48.815 seconds which put him seventh on the starting grid. Once again, Thomas Preining qualified second for Sunday's race with a lap time of 48.773 seconds. The Austrian's Grello Porsche lost two positions in the opening lap. However, thanks to a good pit stop strategy and two overtaking manoeuvres in the Grundig corner, Preining not only regained the two lost positions but also took the lead after 46 laps of the race. After a further 26 laps on the Nuremberg street circuit, last year's winner secured his first win of the season and the maiden victory for Manthey EMA in the DTM with a lead of 2.181 seconds. Dennis Olsen ultimately crossed the finish line in sixth place with the number 90 car.

These results put Manthey EMA at the top of the DTM team standings (131 points). In the drivers' championship, Dennis Olsen is eighth with 52 points, while Thomas Preining extends his lead with a ten-point advantage (88 points). Porsche also defended its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship.

With the DTM at the Nürburgring from the 4th to the 6th of August, the home race of the 2023 season is on the agenda for Manthey EMA.

Quotes on the DTM at Norisring:

Nicolas Raeder, Managing Director Manthey Racing GmbH: “I'm very proud that after the extreme last weeks for the team with the DTM at Zandvoort and the 24-hour race at Spa, everything worked out and we were able to show what we are capable of with the victory here at the Norisring. After the problems in the first race, we found our feet again and were able to make one of the fastest pit stops today and achieve this result in the end. This puts us at the top of the team and driver standings, which is simply incredible.”

Dennis Olsen, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90: “A good weekend for us. Coming from eleventh on the starting grid yesterday to finish on the podium was great. We fought hard and the guys did a perfect pit stop, which put me in a position to really fight for the podium. The race was a lot of fun with many overtaking manoeuvres and tough battles. A big thank you to the team. After qualifying on Sunday, we were able to start the race from a better position in seventh, where I was able to stay in fifth place behind the other guys for a long time. Despite a problem with lifting the car during the pit stop, we finished sixth and scored some good points. I'm happy that we're further ahead in the standings after this weekend - that's where we want to stay and fight for podiums and wins in the coming races.“

Thomas Preining, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91: “We had a very good qualifying on Saturday, but then everything went wrong. I lost a few positions at the start of the race and then there were problems at the pit stop. In the end, I only managed to finish twelfth. But like at Oschersleben, we came back stronger after this first day. Today, everything went well: We started second and were able to achieve everything we had planned for the race. The car was super fast, the overtaking manoeuvres were always perfectly timed, and I am overjoyed that we were able to celebrate the first Grello victory in the DTM. I'm looking forward to the next race at the Nürburgring, it's the team's home race and we're really motivated.“

Team standings after 6 of 16 rounds:

1. Manthey EMA (Porsche), 131 points
2. Schubert Motorsport (BMW), 130 points
3. SSR Performance (Lamborghini), 116 points
4. ABT Sportsline (Audi), 93 points
5. toksport WRT (Porsche), 76 points
6. Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf (Mercedes), 73 points
7. KÜS Team Bernhard (Porsche), 62 points
8. WINWARD RACING (Mercedes), 38 points
9. project 1 (BMW), 34 points
10. Mercedes-AMG Team HRT (Mercedes), 32 points
11 EMIL FREY RACING (Ferrari), 25 points
12. Grt Grasser-Racing-TEAM (Lamborghini), 15 points
13. Tresor Attempto Racing (Audi), 11 points
14. LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler (Audi), 4 points

Drivers' standings after 6 of 16 rounds:

1. Thomas Preining (A/Manthey EMA/Porsche), 88 points.
2. Sheldon van der Linde (Z/Schubert Motorsport/BMW), 78 points
3. Ricardo Feller (S/Team Abt Sportsline/Audi), 61 points
4. Maro Engel (D/ Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf/Mercedes), 61 points
5. Franck Perera (F/SSR Performance/Lamborghini), 60 points
6. Mirko Bortolotti (I/SSR Performance/ Lamborghini), 60 points
7. René Rast (D/Schubert Motorsport/BMW), 54 points
8. Dennis Olson (N/Manthey EMA/Porsche), 52 points