Guven Takes Dramatic Sachsenring Race 1 Win

Ayhancan Guven took a dramatic, last-lap victory in a rain-hit and delayed DTM Race 1 at the Sachsenring.

The Turkish racer, piloting the No. 90 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R, overtook both Thomas Preining and Jordan Pepper into Turn 1 as his two rivals clashed in a battle for the lead after a late safety car restart.

Preining had captured the lead in the closing laps after a storming drive that saw the Austrian come up from eighth on the grid.

He ran in fourth position by the team the majority of the field came in for their mandatory stops, with those stops being delayed as long as possible to time a switch to slicks amidst changeable conditions.

The race had started amidst a downpour that had caused a ten-minute delay of the start procedure, but after which Pepper led from pole position and controlled the early phases ahead of Jules Gounon.

Both Pepper and Gounon then found themselves in the crosshairs of a charging Preining after the pitstops, the No. 91 Manthey EMA Porsche making quick work of Jules Gounon’s No. 48 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to take second place.

The Austrian then rapidly drove up to the back of the Pepper-driven No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.

His attack was briefly halted when Nicolas Baert’s No. 8 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo became stuck in the gravel, triggered a safety car.

After the restart, Preining appeared to seal the victory when he passed Pepper out of the Queckenberg Kurve.

Although he then led into the final lap, Preining slid wide defending the inside of Turn 1 to fend off an attack from Pepper, allowing third-placed Guven to overtake both.

Guven had himself captured third at the final restart after overtaking Gounon and was left free to claim a third career victory in DTM.

Pepper finished second, while Preining dropped to fourth behind Aitken as Gounon came home in fifth ahead of Ricardo Feller and Marco Wittmann.

Fabio Scherer finished eighth in the No. 64 Ford Mustang GT3, one spot in front of Maro Engel, who recovered to ninth despite a penalty lap for a jump start.

Lucas Auer completed the overall top ten in the No. 22 Team Landgraf Mercedes-AMG.