Ayhancan Guven did the double in DTM round in Sachsenring in a fine display of racing, especially in Race 1 in tricky conditions.
Race 1 –
After heavy rain, all the drivers lined up for Saturday afternoon’s eleventh race of the DTM season on Pirelli wet-weather tyres. Pole-sitter Pepper fended off Jules Gounon (F/Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter) to hold onto the lead, with Ferrari driver Ben Green (GB/Emil Frey Racing) slotting into third place. Aitken climbed one position to lie fifth in the Ferrari 296 GT3. While Güven initially found himself stuck in the pack in ninth place, Preining, driving like a man possessed, launched his fightback on a drying track. Having started from eighth on the grid, the Austrian was already into third place behind Pepper and Gounon by shortly before the mandatory pit stop. Güven had also made up a number of positions.
The second half of the race was equally spectacular: with rain falling again, Preining passed Pepper to take the lead after a safety car phase in the closing stages of the race. By this point, Güven had made his way into third place. When Preining made a mistake shortly before the start/finish straight on the penultimate lap, Pepper pulled level with him and the two drivers raced through turn one side by side on a wide line. Güven, lurking behind the front two, kept his cool and passed the leading pair on the inside to snatch a last-minute victory ahead of Pepper and Aitken, who also found a way past Preining. That meant the 2023 DTM champion eventually ended a remarkable race in fourth place. Gounon completed the top five in a Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Ricardo Feller (CH/Land-Motorsport) produced a fantastic display, making up 13 places to finish sixth in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2. Marco Wittmann (Fürth/Schubert Motorsport) also showed his fighting qualities, bringing the BMW M4 GT3 home in seventh place having started twelfth. Another driver who enjoyed a strong race was Fabio Scherer (CH/HRT Ford Performance), who raced through from 16th on the grid to finish eighth in his Ford Mustang GT3. Maro Engel (Monaco/Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing) crossed the finish line ninth, while Lucas Auer (A/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf) had to settle for tenth and consequently lost his grip on top spot in the table. However, the Austrian only trails Aitken and Pepper by two points.
Result: https://dtm.com/en/results?season=2025
Race 2 –
Race twelve of this season’s DTM at the Sachsenring got off to an incident-free start on Sunday afternoon. Pole-sitter and championship leader Aitken led the field, followed by Güven, who had overtaken his team-mate Preining after the start. Green was fourth, ahead of Jordan Pepper (ZA/TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT), who lay second in the table coming into the race. Aitken remained in front after the first mandatory pit stop, while Preining overtook Güven to take second place.
Behind them, Green and Pepper were treating fans to a fierce wheel-to-wheel battle, which resulted in the South African having to retire with a technical issue on his Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2. The action moved up a gear on lap 20: Preining attacked race leader Aitken in turn one, spinning the Brit, who ended up in the gravel. The Austrian was penalised with three penalty laps for his part in the collision, and dropped well down the field. Aitken rejoined the race at the back of the field after a short safety car phase. That left the way free for Güven, who managed his lead confidently after a perfect second tyre change, and took the chequered flag after 41 laps of racing.
Behind Gounon and Green, Marco Wittmann (Fürth/Schubert Motorsport) came home fourth. The BMW driver produced another impressive fightback and made up 14 positions, thanks to some clever tactics and skilful overtaking manoeuvres. His team-mate René Rast enjoyed similar success, starting from 17th before fighting back to finish fifth. Maro Engel (Monaco/Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing) kept his title hopes alive with sixth place. Morris Schuring (NL/Manthey Junior Team) was seventh in a Porsche 911 GT3 R. Eighth place was good enough for Lucas Auer (A/Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf) to reclaim top spot in the table, ahead of Aitken and Güven. Gilles Magnus (B/Comtoyou Racing) finished ninth in an Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Preining completed the top ten, despite his penalty.
Result: https://www.dtm.com/en/results?season=2025
[The story is as per press release]
