Double strike at the Sachsenring: Güven joins the DTM title race

Ayhancan Güven (TR/Manthey EMA) is the king of the Sachsenring. After taking victory on Saturday, the Porsche driver repeated the feat and won Sunday's DTM race, making it four wins this season. The 27-year-old Turk kept a cool head in a heated race and benefitted from a collision involving the leading pair of Jack Aitken (GB/Emil Frey Racing) and Thomas Preining (A/Manthey EMA).

"Wow, what an awesome weekend! I really wanted to win. Despite that, I did not really believe that I would challenge at the very front again with the additional weight after Saturday's victory. The collision between Jack Aitken and Thomas Preining obviously played into my hands, but I also produced a top performance," said Güven.

There were initially big celebrations for Ben Dörr (Butzbach/Dörr Motorsport, who became the first McLaren driver to stand on the DTM podium. However, the 20-year-old was subsequently disqualified, as his team had changed the tyres on the grid before the start of the race. As a result, Jules Gounon (F/Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter) was promoted into second place, while Ben Green (GB/Emil Frey Racing) inherited third in a Ferrari 296 GT3.

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.

Jules Gounon: "Fifth place on Saturday and second on Sunday is a great result. Before the Sachsenring weekend, I was over 40 points back and virtually out of the title race. We have managed to close the gap significantly. I might be more of an outsider, but the crazy races at the Sachsenring have shown how quickly everything can change in the DTM."

Jack Aitken: "It is disappointing to end the weekend in the gravel bed. My impression from the cockpit was that Thomas Preining switched to the inside too late whilst battling with me. The race was a great chance to take a big step in the title race. We are still well placed, and want to use that good position to our advantage in the remaining races."

Results are HERE