DTM News Notebook
Mercedes-AMG
Mercedes-AMG has confirmed their four-driver line-up for the 2024 DTM in the German Championship’s 40th anniversary season.
Behind the wheel for Mercedes-AMG Team HRT will be Arjun Maini and Luca Stolz, while Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing field Lucas Auer and Maro Engel.
“Since the DTM was launched in 1984, we as a brand can look back on a long and very successful history, which we obviously want to live up to now. As is well known, the 2023 DTM season did not meet our expectations at all. We were chasing the opposition for long periods of the season. In order to be able to replicate past successes, we are focussing on the season ahead. Our goal is clearly to challenge for the title. With this in mind, I am looking forward to an exciting and captivating season with our teams and partners,” says Christoph Sagemüller, Head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport.
Stolz and Maini have formed a duo for Mercedes-AMG Team HRT since 2022. Last year, Stolz claimed one win and a podium at the Sachsenring for the team from Drees, as well as a further podium in Zandvoort and at the DEKRA Lausitzring. Maini became the first Indian driver in the DTM when he made his debut in 2021. He made more history in the same year, with second place and a spot on the podium at the Norisring.
In Auer and Engel, two experienced DTM stars will take their place behind the wheel for Mercedes-AMG Team Winward Racing. Since making his debut in 2015, Auer has made 139 starts in the DTM and ended the 2022 season as runner-up in the championship. Engel made his first appearance for Mercedes-AMG in the DTM back in 2008 and shone last year with a victory in Zandvoort. To mark the 130th anniversary of motorsport under the motto “Defining Motorsport since 1894”, the man from Monaco’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 will bear the #130.
“Looking at our success on the international stage, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 is an extremely competitive car. We did not manage to exploit that potential and challenge for the title in the DTM last year. Over the winter, we have put the right things in place for 2024 and, with our line-up of two Performance teams and four Performance drivers, feel ideally positioned,” says Stefan Wendl, Head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing.
Manthey EMA
After last year’s title treble, Manthey EMA is out to repeat its success in the Team, Driver and Manufacturer competitions with reigning champion Thomas Preining and Turkish team newcomer Ayhancan Güven.
Preining will pilot the #91 Porsche 911 GT3 R with the start number 91, which sports the famous ‘Grello’ design, while Güven will drive the #90 in a bright green livery in his first season with Manthey EMA.
“The 2023 DTM could not have gone better for us, and we ended the year as DTM champions. We are now the hunted in the coming season, and I hope we can successfully defend our title. Our whole team is motivated and ideally positioned to achieve this goal. Alongside Thomas Preining, Ayhancan Güven is another driver with DTM experience. We are looking forward to an exciting 2024 DTM season,” says Nicolas Raeder, Managing Director of Manthey Racing GmbH.
Preining is in his third DTM season this year. In 2023, with three victories and a total of eight podiums, Preining came out on top at the end of a title battle with Lamborghini ace Mirko Bortolotti.
“I am very happy to be back in the DTM with Manthey EMA in 2024 and to be defending our title. That is obviously easier said than done, as we once again have a long and tiring season ahead of us. However, I am really looking forward to it. I can see how motivated and hungry for success every single member of the team still is. That is not something you can take for granted, and I really value it. I am confident that we will have a super season in 2024,” says Preining.
Güven lines up in his second full year in the DTM. The 26-year-old finished in the points on eight occasions last season. The Porsche driver’s best result came at the Sachsenring, when he finished third to celebrate on the podium alongside his new team-mate. Güven has already made an appearance on the top step of the podium for Manthey EMA this February. Together with the team from Meuspath, he won the 12-hour race in Bathurst, Australia.
“I am very much looking forward to this project and the opportunities that come with it. For a driver, it is fantastic to be part of the reigning champion team,” says Güven. “And for me as a Porsche driver, who started out in the Sports Cup in 2016, it is of special importance. To come through all these various situations and to ultimately drive in the DTM – that is a dream come true.”
