A Bittersweet 24 Hours of Le Mans for Manthey DK Engineering

Motorsport can all too often deliver its harshest blows when expectations are at their highest. Despite our unfortunate DNF at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this past weekend, following a sudden loss of steering on the exit of the first Mulsanne Chicane while Ayhancan Güven was at the wheel, there remains much to reflect on positively.

Firstly, the support shown by Porsche fans throughout the week was immense, and this display of affection towards both cars provided a huge boost to the team's confidence heading into the race. DK's James Cottingham started from ninth position in the LMGT3 class and ran strongly throughout his opening stint. His teammates then built upon those foundations, steadily moving the car towards podium contention. Once the race had settled into its rhythm, the field had spread out, and pit stop strategies began to diverge, the #91 continued its assault. Eventually, Manthey DK Engineering found itself leading the 24 Hours of Le Mans, an achievement few teams can claim.

Later in the evening, at around 11pm, the car suffered an unfortunate slow puncture while in the hands of Timur Boguslavskiy. Timur brought the car into the pits, where the necessary repairs were carried out. The unscheduled stop inevitably dropped the #91 down the order, with the car rejoining in approximately 10th position. From there, however, the recovery drive was on.

Having worked its way back into the top five during the early hours of Sunday morning, Ayhancan Güven climbed aboard the #91 for his first stint of the day. Shortly after 09:15 CEST, as 'Can' negotiated the first Mulsanne Chicane, the car suffered a sudden steering failure. Instantly left a passenger at speeds in excess of 100mph, he was powerless to avoid the tyre barriers. Most importantly, Ayhancan emerged unscathed, but the car sustained catastrophic damage to its front-left corner, including the bodywork and upright assembly, forcing its retirement from the race. At the time, the #91 was running fourth and firmly in contention for a podium finish.

It was ultimately a bittersweet experience at Le Mans. Yet when all is said and done, we can only thank our friends, family and sponsors for allowing us to go racing in the first place.

With Le Mans behind us, our focus now shifts to Brazil and the next round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in July.