Hypercar Drivers, DTM Champion in Manthey N24 Lineup

Porsche Hypercar drivers Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor will team up with reigning DTM champion Thomas Preining at Manthey EMA for the Nürburgring 24 as part of a four-man lineup that also includes Ayhancan Guven.

Estre, Vanthoor, Preining and Guven will share the Grello-liveried No. 911 Porsche 911 GT3 R for the Eifel endurance classic, which takes place on June 1-2.

The German powerhouse stable, which won the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour last month with a lineup consisting of Matt Campbell, Vanthoor and Guven, will look to bounce back from a disappointing showing last year.

Its run was curtailed with early tire troubles, something that plagued several Porsche runners in the Type-992’s N24 debut, before eventually retiring.

Estre and reigning DTM champion Preining were part of that lineup last year, while Vanthoor and Guven move across after contesting the 2023 edition of the event with Dinamic GT.

They too failed to reach the finish after a crash for Laurin Heinrich during the night that also involved the Ollis Garage Dacia Logan.

Porsche has so far enjoyed a prosperous start to the 2024 season, with overall victories in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the FIA World Endurance Championship opener in Qatar, the latter of which featured Estre and Vanthoor.

Manthey’s last victory in the Eifel endurance classic came in 2021, when Estre, Michael Christensen and Matteo Cairoli set a new shortest distance record after heavy rain and overnight for resulted in less than ten hours of green flag racing.