In 2025, the Porsche team Manthey EMA won the team classification for the second time, while their driver Ayhancan Güven made motorsport history by winning the drivers’ championship in the Porsche 911 GT3 R (#90).
After five season victories, the 27-year-old became the first DTM champion from Turkey. Congratulations!
With Ayhancan Güven’s 2025 title, Manthey celebrates its second championship victory. 
Morris Schuring was named “DTM Rookie of the Year 2025” (center)
After 2023, Manthey EMA repeated its masterpiece in 2025, securing the team championship title on Saturday. Ayhancan Güven crowned the weekend with his victory on Sunday and the DTM drivers’ title. All good things come in threes, and so Morris Schuring celebrated the title “DTM Rookie of the Year 2025” in his debut season.
In 2022, Sheldon van der Linde from Schubert Motorsport won with KW V6 Racing 
Thomas Preining from Manthey became DTM champion in 2023 with KW V6 Racing
Customer sports cars homologated according to GT3 regulations have only been on the starting grid in the DTM for four years. In this short time, our KW Motorsport customers have won the championship three times with KW V6 Racing dampers. In the DTM, the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO, BMW M4 GT3 Evo, and Porsche 911 GT3 R are homologated with our KW V6 Racing dampers.
Never before has a DTM finale been more exciting than last weekend at the Hockenheimring, attracting over 100,000 fans to the track. Nine drivers arrived as potential champions, all with a chance to win the championship. Among them were BMW M4 GT3 drivers Marco Wittmann (#11) and René Rast (#33), as well as Porsche 911 GT3 R drivers Ayhancan Güven (#90) and Thomas Preining (#91) from our motorsport customers.
Thomas Preining’s rain dance secures Manthey EMA the DTM championship victory in the team standings on Saturday
Then came the big bang on Saturday. In the Porsche 911 GT3 R (#91), Thomas Preining, DTM champion of 2023, had only one tactic: maximum attack. Starting from the second row, he took the lead within a few laps.
The rain and wet track didn’t bother the Austrian (#91) at all, and he pulled away at the front with fast lap times. Even during the mandatory pit stop, the Manthey-EMA driver (#91) took a gamble. He was the last to enter the pits and returned to the track with a ten-second lead.
Thomas Preining defended his position in the yellow-green Grello Porsche (#91) until the end and crossed the finish line first with a lead of over 16 seconds. With this victory, Manthey secured the 2025 DTM team championship on Saturday!
Porsche junior driver Morris Schuring (#92) followed in third place, finishing on the podium for the first time in the 2025 final and missing second place by a mere 0.11 seconds.
The other drivers from our customer sports teams finished in the top 10, with Ayhancan Güven (#90) in fifth and René Rast (#33, Schubert Motorsport, BMW M4 GT3 Evo) in seventh. Thomas Preining’s first place on Saturday made the battle for the DTM drivers’ championship even more exciting.
On Saturday evening, Thomas Preining (#91) was just two points behind the leader Lucas Auer with 172 points. But René Rast (#33) with 169 points, Ayhancan Güven (#90) with 165 points, and even Marco Wittmann (#11) with 150 championship points still had every chance of becoming champion at Hockenheim.
Ayhancan Güven made motorsport history on race Sunday
While Saturday was rainy, visitors were greeted by sunshine on Sunday. The sun seemed to further fuel the battle for the championship on the race track. The Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo of “Comtoyou Racing” driver Gilles Magnus (#7), also homologated with a KW V6 Racing damper, started from pole position, while Ayhancan Güven (#90) started the race from second place in the Manthey-EMA Porsche.
In the field chasing the Aston Martin, not only did the temperature on the asphalt increase from lap to lap, but it also rose in the cockpits. There was a battle for second place between René Rast in the Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 Evo (#33) and Ayhancan Güven (#90). In this duel, René Rast (#33) retired through no fault of his own and was reduced to the role of spectator.
With Ayhancan Güven’s Manthey EMA Porsche (#90) still in his rearview mirror, Gilles Magnus in the Aston Martin continued to lead the race alone. It was only during the pit stop window that something changed. The Porsche 911 GT3 R (#90) was the last to enter the pit lane for a tire change, allowing Ayhancan Güven to take the lead with fresh tires.
Marco Wittmann, on the other hand, was pursuing a completely different pit strategy. He was the first to make a pit stop with his BMW M4 GT3 (#11) at the Schubert team, which allowed him to attack with fresh tires. Starting in tenth place, the Schubert BMW (#11) overtook the field almost lap after lap and moved up to third place in the course of the race.
Due to a technical problem, Gilles Magnus’ Aston Martin (#7) retired on lap 22. At the front, the battle for the drivers’ championship continued. Ayhancan Güven in his Porsche 911 GT3 R (#90) had to fend off attacks from Marco Wittmann (#11) in the Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3.
On the final lap, Marco Wittmann (#11) took the lead, which would have crowned Lucas Auer as champion. Ayhancan Güven (#90) risked everything in the Sachskurve. He pushed past Marco Wittmann’s BMW M4 GT3 again and even took a little bit of grass with him to realize his dream of becoming DTM champion.
With a razor-thin lead of 0.169 seconds over Wittmann’s M4, Ayhancan Güven won and became the first DTM champion from Turkey. Unbelievable.
Thomas Preining (#91) in the Grello finished sixth in Sunday’s final, while Morris Schuring crossed the finish line in 14th place. The two Comtoyou Racing Aston Martins (#7 and #8) and René Rast (#33) in the M4 GT3 ended the race prematurely due to retirements.
Successful 2025 DTM season for KW Motorsport customers
In the DTM team standings for the 2025 season, the Porsche Manthey team was the clear leader, scoring a total of 392 points in the 16 races.
Second place went to the BMW team Schubert Motorsport, which scored 330 points this year. Second and third place in the manufacturer standings went to Porsche with 406 points and BMW with 348 points. Mercedes-AMG took first place with 418 points.
Nine manufacturers competed in the 2025 DTM season, including Aston Martin, BMW, and Porsche with race cars equipped with our KW V6 Racing dampers.
Starting in 2026, we will also equip the Lamborghini Temerario GT3 with our motorsport suspensions, which will then compete in various championships around the world.
Photos Gruppe C Photography / Michele Scudiero Photography
