DTM Zandvoort: Ayhancan Guven wins chaotic race in the…

Ayhancan Guven took his second victory of the 2025 DTM season in Zandvoort, in chaotic and rainy conditions.

The Manthey Porsche driver kept his composure despite challenging circumstances, avoiding mistakes and triumphing ahead of Nicki Thiim (Abt Lamborghini) and Maximilian Paul (Paul Lamborghini), who both reached the podium thanks to a daring tyre strategy.

“That was mega, I'm so happy,” Guven exclaimed after the race in an interview with ran. “It was a crazy race today. I got off to a good start and battled with Luca [Engstler], then we had a really good pitstop. The strategy was excellent too, but given the conditions, it was definitely walking a fine line.”

“I'm really grateful we've taken such a big step forward compared to last year. That would have been impossible without the team,” the Turkish driver added. “I'm proud of what we've achieved together, and of the personal progress I’ve made.”

The track was damp at the start of the race, with only three drivers gambling on slicks. Polesitter Jordan Pepper (Grasser Lamborghini) successfully maintained the lead, while his team-mate Luca Engstler slightly pushed Maro Engel off the track, dropping the latter to fourth behind Guven with no further action from race control.

Thiim, Paul and Nicolas Baert, on slicks, lost 30 seconds to the leaders in the first five laps, but Paul later set the fastest lap thus far, with their gamble paying off.

Amid retirement for McLaren driver Timo Glock due to contact with Gilles Magnus (Comtoyou Aston Martin), the slick-tyre racers were five seconds a lap faster. Their rivals waited for the official pit window to open, except Engel, who stopped one lap too early due to suspected radio miscommunication – this effectively was a drive-through as he was unable to change tyres.

Timo Glock, Dörr Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo (Photo by: Alexander Trienitz)

Chaos ensued with so many cars in the pitlane; Engstler clipped a loose tyre from Rene Rast, with a BMW mechanic stumbling uninjured. There were multiple other contacts and incidents.

Polesitter Pepper delayed his pitstop to avoid the crowded pitlane, but his tyre change was slow and he lost the lead. Meanwhile, a brief shower caught Rast out, with a head-on crash at Turn 1.

Among drivers who started on slicks, Thiim stopped later than Guven, who then snatched the lead from his rival thanks to his warmed-up tyres. Rast crashed again due to earlier damage, but even the following safety car intervention did not jeopardize a confident Guven’s victory.

Behind Guven, Thiim and Paul, Engstler took fourth, leading Auer and local hero Morris Schuring in the third Manthey Porsche. Marco Wittmann impressively fought from 20th to seventh in his Schubert BMW, followed by Pepper, Mirko Bortolotti and Engel.

Auer still leads the standings, with Guven trailing him by 11 points and Pepper by 14. The second race of the weekend will take place at 4:30pm local time tomorrow due to the schedule being adjusted for the Le Mans 24 Hours test day, with Rast on pole position.