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Manthey EMA victorious in LMGT3 Le Mans debut

• Richard Lietz, Morris Schuring and Yasser Shahin win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMGT3 class with the #91 Manthey EMA Porsche
• Sister #92 car from Manthey PureRxcing finishes the endurance classic in 14th place after repairs in the pits
• In the LMGT3 team and driver standings, Manthey EMA now lead the championship, equal on points with their team-mates from Manthey PureRxcing, who are equal on points

Manthey EMA claimed an historic first victory of the new LMGT3 era at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the #91 Porsche 911 GT3 R. Driver trio of Richard Lietz (Austria), Morris Schuring (Netherlands) and Yasser Shahin (Australia) scored a second consecutive FIA Endurance Championship win, moving to the top of the points standings, joint with teammates Manthey Pure Rxcing who finished in 14th place.

With record crowds of 329,000 people, the start of the French endurance classic saw the Manthey Pure Rxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R start from 2nd, while the Manthey EMA crew were back in 16th place. In the first three hours on the 13.626-kilometre Circuit de la Sarthe, the #91 steadily worked its way forward, allowing Morris Schuring to take the lead for the first time as the fastest driver in the LMGT3 field on Saturday evening. Just two hours later, Joel Sturm did the same in the Manthey PureRxcing entry, meaning that both cars had led the class after just over five hours of racing.

After a long safety car phase due to heavy rain, the pair ran together at the head of the field with just under eight hours on the clock. The #91 entry moved into the lead again as the sister car was forced into the pits after problems with the gearbox, leading to 24-minutes of repairs. As the end of the race neared, the lead at the front of the LMGT3 class developed into a duel between the Manthey EMA Porsche and the WRT BMW. Despite this late challenge, Richard Lietz was able to build up a lead despite difficult wet conditions during his final stint, and crossed the finish line first after 281 laps. Teammates in the #92 car recovered to 14th. The result sees Yasser Shahin and Morris Schuring victorious in their first ever Le Mans entry, while this is the fifth Le Mans victory for Richard Lietz.

"This is the fifth time that we have won Le Mans and the fourth time that Martin and I have taken part. It's obviously a special event that you can't force. To be able to take part here with Porsche, and then compete for the win is something very special, and then to achieve victory - that's obviously a dream. The victory for the EMA crew was hard-fought and a great team effort - everyone gave their all and everything came together. That's what made it possible for us to take the win.", summarises Nicolas Raeder, Managing Director of Manthey Racing GmbH.

Quotes on the 24 Hours of Le Mans:

Yasser Shahin, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91: "They say Le Mans chooses you. I'm very lucky, and very happy, that we were chosen this year. I don't think you can find a faster group of guys who are so level-headed. It really was a triumph of discipline, and I'm over the moon to be a part of it."

Richard Lietz, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91: "People don't realise how often you take part in races where you have no chance. It's special to come here to Le Mans and have a team, a car and all the necessary basic conditions to be able to win this race. And then to actually win here is a real privilege. My teammates did a fantastic job, and they both won Le Mans on their debut here, which is incredible. It was my 18th start at Le Mans, and I feel very honoured that Porsche has given me the chance to race here over the years. We've had some very difficult years, but this year everything just fell into place and then we really did it. That's fantastic."

Morris Schuring, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91: "It's a dream come true. When I came here, I never dared to expect that I would win my first Le Mans, especially not at the age of 19. Thanks to the team, and my teammates in particular, we delivered an almost perfect race. We didn't make any mistakes, always made the right decision, stayed calm and didn't get any penalties. We can be proud of that and we really set an example of how a 24-hour race should be driven. Many thanks to Manthey, Yasser and Richie!"