Who will be champion Thomas Preining’s teammate at Manthey EMA in 2024 and what look the Porsche team will go for in the year of the title defense
Manthey EMA has presented the second driver and the designs for the 2024 DTM season: In addition to defending champion Thomas Preining, this year – ex-Bernhard driver Ayhancan Güven will be racing for the Porsche team.
While Preining will do without the number 1 and will once again compete with the number 91 and in the “Grello” design, his new Turkish team-mate will take over the number 90 and the “Greeno” from predecessor Dennis Olsen.
The Norwegian, who gets on extremely well with Preining, was originally Manthey EMA’s preferred driver for the 2024 season, but then Olsen surprisingly switched to Ford. A replacement has been found in the form of Porsche contract driver Güven
Manthey engineers are no strangers to newcomer Güven
The Red Bull-backed 26-year-old, who made his DTM debut in the AF Corse Ferrari at the Norisring in 2022 and secured a podium finish at the Sachsenring with the Bernhard team last year, was able to gain his first experience with Manthey EMA last weekend when he won at Bathurst – and promptly took victory.
“I’m really looking forward to this project and the opportunities it brings,” says Güven, who joined Porsche in 2016 and initially competed in the Sports Cup, appreciating the move to the reigning DTM championship-winning team.
However, he was not completely unfamiliar with Manthey even before the successful weekend at the 12-hour classic in Bathurst, because the team also supports other Porsche teams with engineers: “I have already had the opportunity to work with part of the Manthey team in recent years, and this will be the first time that I drive for them. “
Ex-Bernhard partner prominent on Preining’s cars
The team from Meuspath, which is 51 percent owned by Porsche, will once again be racing as Manthey EMA in 2024, which means that the Australian partner team EMA will appear in the name. And barring a miracle, the squad will also be the only Porsche team in the DTM in 2024.
It is noticeable that the logos of sponsor KÜS are prominently displayed on Preining’s cars this year. The company, which is active in the field of vehicle monitoring, has been a Manthey partner since 2020, but has so far concentrated on Timo Bernhard’s team in the DTM. According to reports, KÜS is likely to have ended the partnership before the team announced its withdrawal from the DTM for financial reasons, among others
Title defense the goal for Manthey EMA
After winning the drivers’, team and manufacturers’ championships with Porsche, it goes without saying that Manthey EMA wants to be at the top again. “We are now the hunted in the coming season and I hope that we can successfully defend our titles,” says Managing Director and Team Principal Nicki Raeder.
“Our entire team is motivated and optimally positioned to tackle this goal. In addition to Thomas Preining, Ayhancan Güven, another DTM-experienced driver, will be competing for us and we are looking forward to an exciting 2024 DTM season.”
Finally, he expressly thanked the former Manthey EMA driver for the 2023 season together. “We wish him every success in his new challenges,” said Raeder.
