Ayhancan Güven on historic DTM title: “Maybe this chance would not come again”

After that epic last‑lap overtake at Hockenheim last year, Ayhancan Güven won the DTM championship with Manthey. With this, he became the first Turkish driver ever to win the title, something that means a lot to him and his country. This year, Güven will make his debut in the WEC, while also gaining initial experience in Formula E through selected testing opportunities.

Rollercoaster season

Lucas Auer looked set to become the 2025 DTM champion, but for Ayhancan Güven and Manthey the title had always been the objective. “The goal was clear to win the title,” he says, noting that after Zandvoort, “we were really believing in this.”

That confidence came from a strong run starting late 2024 and continuing with a win in Oschersleben to open 2025. Still, not everything went smoothly. The Norisring and Nürburgring cost him valuable points. “After the Nürburgring weekend it started to be a bit difficult. The chances became slimmer.”

Yet the team stayed focused. “We never gave up; the target was always winning the title.” Their persistence paid off with a dominant Sachsenring weekend, scoring 51 points. “The Sachsenring weekend, that’s where I think everything changed for me.”

The move that made history

“Coming into Hockenheim there were a lot of question marks,” the 28‑year‑old driver explains. “I was one of the nine contenders and for me all contenders had similar chances except for Auer, because he was in the front, so he had the most chance.”

Güven started the final race of the season from second place and had the best starting position among the title contenders. “I knew that the winner of the race would become champion.”

After a chaotic race with multiple Safety Cars and several rivals dropping out, everything came down to the final lap. Güven had previously built a comfortable gap to Wittmann, but the last Safety Car bunched the field together. With three minutes to go, it became a sprint to the finish. “It’s really crazy that everything comes down to the last lap of the championship. There was a lot of pressure on me after all the work we do in the background. As a driver you want to win it.” Wittmann attacked successfully in the final lap, which would have handed the title to Auer. “When Wittmann overtook me, I knew I lost the championship, so I needed to do something back.”

The Porsche driver refused to give up. “It’s not often that you will be in this position, so I knew maybe this chance would not come again. In that moment I was just thinking about the win.” With Wittmann just ahead, they approached Turn 13, one of the final corners of the circuit. “Coming into Sachs‑Kurve, I knew I needed to do something and there was room on the inside. I went for it and in the end, it became a historic moment.” He says with passion and a proud smile.

Making history for Turkey

By winning the championship, Güven became the first Turkish DTM champion ever. “It means a lot to me because I’ve shown in the last few years that in Turkey it’s possible to become a professional racing driver. This was never the case before me.”

Güven knows how loyal his fanbase is. With the title, he feels the impact even more. “My fan base is very big. Now with this title, it’s become even more known in Turkey. You are in the mainstream.” The effect on Turkish motorsport is significant, he says. “I think it’s really important for the future of Turkish motorsport. I think we will see more drivers from Turkey. We will see more families watching the final lap and pushing their kids to become a racing driver.”

He reflects honestly on his own childhood: “I always wanted to become a racing driver but I didn’t know how. I never knew what it means to become one, what you need to do. I started racing at the age of five, and at that time there was no example. I didn’t have anyone to tell me what to do and I made a lot of mistakes.” He explains to GT REPORT. “So I go through all these, let’s say, questionable years in my life without knowing what’s going on. But at the end, I made it. So now, I think, for the future upcoming Turkish drivers there is more chance.”

Now that he has made a name for himself, he wants to give something back. “This experience, I need to give it to the future.” But he wants to do that later in his career. “Currently I’m still a bit too young for it. I have a career in front of me and important years ahead. The only thing I can do now is put the benchmark as high as possible and attract more sponsors in Turkey. This will help the coming generation, and when I stop racing, for sure I would like to help them and give advice.”

Becoming one of the best

The multiple Porsche Cup champion has quickly become one of the top GT drivers. “I started driving Porsche race cars in 2017 in the Carrera Cup and since then I’m driving Porsche most of the time. I’ve been an official part of the Porsche family since 2020, when I became Porsche Junior.”

He won the 2017 6 Hours of Rome Gold Cup, Porsche Carrera Cup France in 2018 and 2019, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Benelux in 2018, and the FIA GT Nations Cup.

“I’ve been doing GT3 since 2022, it’s my fifth season now in a GT3 car. I’m starting to have more experience. It’s not easy to jump into GT3 and be competitive because the field is really big and there are a lot of talented drivers.” Winning these titles has established him as one of the fastest‑rising drivers. “I think winning DTM is the top of it. With a single‑driver format and the best drivers in the world in GT3, it puts me in this group of drivers, which I’m really happy about.” But he knows he can’t relax. “You need to keep performing. It’s not over when you win DTM. I need to keep this level to stay in this top group.”

He remains calm under the high expectations. “I know the people in the team expect a lot, but I also expect a lot from myself. In the end it’s part of the game. I’m used to it now.” The former Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 Drivers Trophy winner knows how to handle pressure. “The best way to get rid of this pressure is hard work. There is not so much stress when you’re driving, it’s more when you’re sitting in the car waiting to go. That’s when you feel the stress, and the only way to reduce it is to work hard.”

WEC and Formula E

We will see Güven this year in both Formula E and the WEC. The goals in the World Endurance Championship are clear: “WEC is simple because Manthey won the last two years Le Mans and the WEC title, so we need to win it again. We want to win WEC, we want to win Le Mans.”

His Formula E involvement, however, currently consists only of selected testing opportunities. There are no confirmed plans beyond these initial tests. “I did one test last year in Berlin. In the beginning it was more like a present from Porsche for my good season in DTM, but the test was really successful and then we started to discuss the possibility of Formula E because they have a factory team there.”

“I’m their junior driver since 2020, then I became a Porsche works driver. It’s important for Porsche to have drivers like this, and there was never the plan when I was a junior driver to become a Formula E driver with Porsche.”

He is clear about his ambition: “I want to race in Formula E.” But he adds that it will not happen immediately. “I’m focusing on my current program. I want to be successful after DTM, I want to be successful in WEC. In the background we are doing some preparation for Formula E, currently we are just trying it. We will see what happens in the future.”