Manthey EMA extends DTM championship lead at home round at the Nürburgring

By EMA Motorsport
Aug 07^th, 2023

Podium finish for Manthey EMA at Saturday's race
Thomas Preining half-time DTM champion after eight of 16 races
Manthey EMA and Porsche still in front in all classifications

Meuspath. Manthey EMA continues to extend its lead in the DTM team and driver standings at the Nürburgring. With third place in Saturday's race and fifth on the following day, Thomas Preining (Austria) defended his lead in the drivers' standings at halftime of the 2023 DTM season. Dennis Olsen (Norway), who was only able to score points in the first race on the Eifel circuit due to a collision in Sunday's race, is currently in eighth place overall.

The first qualifying session on the 3.269-kilometre sprint track in the Eifel started in dry conditions for the local team. Austrian Thomas Preining put the number 91 car in second place for Saturday's race with a lap time of 1:25.278 minutes. Seventh on the grid went to his teammate Dennis Olsen with a time of 1:25.567 minutes. Already in the still sunny starting phase of the seventh DTM race, the Norwegian Olsen with start number 90 made up one place. After half of the race distance, light rain set in. Nevertheless, the Nürburgring-experienced team again relied on slicks during the pit stops of the two Porsche 911 GT3 R cars, which were completed under full-course yellow due to a collision. This strategy paid off on the quickly drying track. Although Thomas Preining lost a position at the restart around twelve minutes before the end of the race after a safety car phase, the third-placed Austrian and Dennis Olsen in fifth collected important championship points for Manthey EMA.

The race Sunday started with the second DTM qualifying session on a wet, but slowly drying track in challenging conditions. Both Grello Porsches started the session on rain tyres, but switched to slicks shortly before the end. Dennis Olsen was the fastest Porsche, starting from eighth on the grid with a lap time of 1:30.654 minutes. Thomas Preining followed eight places behind in sixteenth with a lap time of 1:31.302 minutes. Both Manthey EMA drivers were involved in collisions right at the start of the race. While start number 91 was able to continue, Dennis Olsen had to park his Porsche in the pits after the first lap on the Eifel circuit with a broken tie rod. Despite the damage to his car, Thomas Preining steadily worked his way to the front and saw the chequered flag in fifth place after 35 laps.

With these results, Manthey EMA has extended its lead in the DTM standings. The team from the Eifel leads the team standings with 169 points. The team from the Eifel region leads the team standings with 169 points. Thomas Preining leads after eight of 16 races with 117 points and a 28-point advantage. Dennis Olsen is in eighth place in the drivers' standings (63 points) after his collision in Sunday's race. Porsche also continues to lead the manufacturers' standings (238 points).

Together with 460 guests, the team was able to celebrate this success at the Nürburgring. Manthey EMA invited family and friends of the company to the home races in the immediate vicinity of the company site in Meuspath, who were given exclusive insights into the world of DTM racing.

In just two weeks' time from 18 to 20 August 2023, the next edition of the DTM will take place at the Lausitzring.

Quotes on the DTM at Norisring:

Nicolas Raeder, Managing Director Manthey Racing GmbH: “Our goal was to stay ahead in the team and driver standings at the end of the weekend, and we did that and I'm very happy about that. We were even able to extend our lead. The start of the second race was unfortunate. Both Dennis and Thomas got into a collision at the start. As a result, we had to take race number 90 out of the race. The damage to Thomas' car worried us, but luckily everything held and we were still able to finish fifth.”

Dennis Olsen, Porsche 911 GT3 R #90: “I have mixed feelings after this weekend. Yesterday we had a pretty good day: we scored good points with fifth place and moved up to sixth in the drivers' standings. I was happy and looking forward to today's race. Unfortunately, I got caught between two cars in the first corner and my steering was damaged. It's a shame because I'm sure we could have fought for the podium. So a lot of points were lost.”

Thomas Preining, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91: “A super weekend for me. Of course, we were hoping for a home win for the team, but we really can't complain. We got the most out of yesterday with the 20 kilos of extra weight from the last race - a podium is always nice. In the second qualifying I had difficulties with the traffic and I had to start from 16th position. But then we showed good teamwork again and moved up to fifth despite the damaged car. It's great that I'm leading the drivers' championship at the halfway stage. But it's all down to the end, so we have to keep working to make sure we're still up there when it really matters.”

Team standings after 8 of 16 rounds: