The latest graduate of Porsche’s junior programme is Ayhancan Güven, from Turkey. Ayhancan, or ‘Chan’, has come through the typical Porsche pathway, Carrera Cup, into Supercup, then ADAC GT Masters, GT World Challenge, into DTM, and now a full-season tilt at the Intercontinental GT Challenge.
Not just with any team though: For the opening two rounds of this year’s IGTC, ‘Chan’ had been selected to race with Manthey, in the iconic “Grello” Porsche. It was the realisation of a dream.
“Joining Manthey for Bathurst, and for the Nürburgring, was a dream come true,” Güven told DSC. “This year, the opportunity came.”
Güven knows that driving for Manthey is not just a privilege, but also a responsibility. It undeniably comes with pressure, Manthey is expected to win, yet to this point, he’s soaked up the experience and delivered the goods.
“It’s quite a lot of pressure,” he told DSC. “There was nothing to hide in Bathurst, and also in the Nürburgring, there’s a lot of pressure to drive the Grello for the first time.
“The first part is always the hardest because the pressure is there. After a few laps, you find your rhythm and forget the pressure.
“But I think I delivered in these moments.”
And the results speak for themselves. An overall win at the Bathurst 12 Hour driving with Matt Campbell and Laurens Vanthoor, and second place in an aborted Nürburgring 24 Hours with Vanthoor, Kevin Estre, and Thomas Preining puts Guven in the lead of the Intercontinental GT Challenge Driver’s standings.
And in both races, he drove key stints to put the Manthey car at the sharp end of the field. At Bathurst, he drove through the worst of the wet conditions, then on the Nordschleife, he was given the ‘Grello’ machine in the darkness, and in the rain. On both occasions, Güven not only held it together, but he made positions and displayed incredible pace too.
“It’s not easy. Everyone can be fast,” Guven said. “But it’s another thing to be fast when it matters.
“Tracks like Bathurst and the Nürburgring, it’s so easy to put the car into the wall. And the first few laps at Bathurst, and the first few laps [at the Nürburgring], especially in the wet for the first time, it was quite challenging.”
Güven, alongside Laurens Vanthoor, holds the maximum points possible in the IGTC standings (provisionally, as the N24 result is still not final). While there’s the opportunity to look towards an IGTC Driver’s Title, he isn’t looking too far ahead just yet.
“Okay, we have the maximum points, but we have the race in Spa which will be tricky,” Güven said. “I’ve never raced in the US [for Indianapolis] before so hopefully I’ll be in it for the IGTC title.”
It takes versatility to string together a good IGTC season, as each event has its own charm, character and set of challenges.
“Bathurst is one of my favourite tracks in the world. And the racing there is really good, you can overtake, and you can fight. I really liked the battles and it’s the kind of race where you need to stay clean until the final three hours.
“At the Nürburgring, it’s a full sprint race. Because there’s no safety car, the gap you make at the beginning of the race will stay, so it’s quite different.
“The traffic is also quite different, [at the Nurburgring] and also in Bathurst, and then Spa where there are only GT3 cars.
“Spa, there’s 60-something GT3 cars. There are so many cars and it’s not easy to stay in the top five all the time. It’s a mix of sprint races and having a good car for the last three hours.
“All of these races are quite different, but also quite special.”
This week, with Manthey not contesting the 24 Hours of Spa, Güven and Vanthoor will be split, adding a different dynamic to the IGTC title race.
Güven moves across to his regular GTWC Europe team – Schumacher CLRT – and will race in the #22 911. Vanthoor is set to drive with Hub Auto Racing in the #992.
While there will be fierce competition between the different manufacturers, Güven points out that Porsche having a 12-car fleet for the race increases his chances of a strong finish significantly.
“I think it’s good to have many Porsches that are strong,” he said. “It’s also good to see what the others are doing.
“If you’re the only Pro Porsche car, and you’re lost, then you’re lost. But if there are other Porsche teams doing better, we can share info and improve.
“We [Schumacher CLRT] already had a good race at Paul Ricard for GT World Challenge. We have a good line-up, with Laurin [Heinrich] and Dorian [Boccolacci], and I think we have a strong package for Spa.
“But it’s quite a long race, and you cannot predict how it will go.”
Images courtesy of Porsche & Frozenspeed
