Porsche’s Guven Sets Super Pole Target for Macau Debut

Porsche driver Ayhancan Guven has set himself the target of making it through to Super Pole for his maiden appearance in the FIA GT World Cup in Macau this weekend.

The DTM champion is making his bow at the famous Guia circuit, and will drive the No. 11 Porsche 911 GT3 R with the Schumacher CLRT team with which he contested this year’s GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup.

With a reduced 16-car field at Macau this year, and a new qualifying format that sees the top ten qualifiers advancing to a Super Pole session on Friday afternoon, Guven has set his sights on being among those to progress to the pole shootout.

“I think my preparation is as good as it could have been,” Guven told Sportscar365. “I haven’t been racing for three weeks so I have had time to focus on Macau.

“I’ve been in the simulator and I’ve been watching past races and on-boards, which is about as much as you can do from home. I’m really looking forward to the track.

“I hope for clean sessions, without red flags, just to be able to do as many laps as possible and enjoy. I am feeling positive. My target is to make it through to Super Pole, also because that would allow me to do even more laps.

“I think to be in the top ten out of 16 cars is a good first goal. If I can do this, then we’ll see what is possible in the races.

“But I don’t want to give myself any unnecessary pressure. I want to take it step by step in free practice because I know what can happen when it goes wrong.

“I want to take it slowly, to build up my confidence. I don’t want to push too early and make a mistake.”

Guven added that he is looking forward to gaining further experience of torque sensors, which make their Macau debut, although he expressed uncertainty as to whether the rule change will come as a boost to Porsche after a tough 2024 race.

“I watched the race from home last year and I know it was difficult for Porsche,” he said.

“It’s difficult for me to judge how it will be with the torque sensors, also because I don’t have a lot of experience of using them. But I hope it creates a new level of competition.

“Hopefully the change will be good for us, for the race and for the fans.”

Guven “Couldn’t Have Dreamt” of Dramatic DTM Decider

Reflecting on the spectacular circumstances in which he claimed the DTM title last month at Hockenheim, Guven said his dramatic final-lap pass on Marco Wittmann that gave him the crown is something he “couldn’t have imagined.”

The 27-year-old went into the deciding race only fifth in the standings behind Lucas Auer, Jordan Pepper, Rene Rast and Maro Engel, but forcing his way by Wittmann’s BMW was enough to put him four points clear of Auer in the final reckoning.

“I’m really happy with how my season went even before the final weekend, with four wins and being in the championship fight,” Guven reflected. “But I also knew that anything could happen going into the final weekend.

“I was P5 in the championship so I knew I was not the favorite, but that I had a chance.

“What happened in the final race is something I couldn’t have dreamt of or imagined. If I was going to write the script of how I won the championship, I would have chosen something much simpler!

“But it is the dream of any driver to have a highlight like this in their career.”

Asked if he expects to defend his DTM title next year, Guven simply replied: “I cannot confirm what I will do next year.”