Manthey Racing

Manthey Racing GmbH is a German auto racing team and tuning company established in 1996 by former race car driver Olaf Manthey. Most notable for their participation at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, they also compete in the Asian Le Mans Series, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, and IMSA SportsCar Championship, and are also responsible for Porsche's factory LMGT3 efforts in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Working with Porsche sports cars for most of their history, the team has been strongly linked with the German manufacturer, being purchased by Porsche for a 51% majority stake in 2013, later becoming a certified partner in 2021.^[1][2]

Retiring after the 1993 season of the original DTM series, Olaf Manthey began working for Persson Motorsport in 1994, which ran Mercedes-Benz race cars. After the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft series folded in 1996, Olaf Manthey established his own racing team, Olaf Manthey Racing, in the municipality of Rheinbreitbach.^[3] On 1 April 2000, Manthey Racing moved to their current location in the municipality of Meuspath.^[3]

On 15 December 2013, German racing outfit Raeder Motorsport was merged into Manthey Racing, at which time Porsche acquired a 51% majority stake in the team. Hartmut Kristen, Vice President of Porsche Motorsport, stated that Olaf Manthey approached Porsche on the opportunity to keep the team operational, as his son had died in a car accident in 2007 and had since also learned that his daughter had no interest in taking over ownership of the team.^[2] Raeder Motorsport's founders and brothers Nicolas and Martin Raeder assumed management roles,^[4] each acquiring a 20% minority stake in the team, while Olaf Manthey retained a 9% minority share.^[5]

Since 2023, Manthey Racing has worked collaboratively with Australian racing team EMA Motorsport in a majority of their races and series. In their first year together as a collaborative effort, they competed in the Bathurst 12 Hour, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Nürburgring 24 Hours, Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, and Spa 24 Hours with considerable levels of success.^[6]

The team's motorsport debut came in the Porsche Supercup in 1996, finishing 4th in the teams' standings with 158 points.^[7] The next four seasons between 1997 and 2000 saw high levels of success for the team, securing four consecutive teams' and drivers' championships for Manthey Racing and Dutch driver Patrick Huisman, whose four titles remains the most won by any driver in the Porsche Supercup.^[8] Manthey Racing also made their first competitive appearances in the Nürburgring in 1998 and the Circuit de la Sarthe in 1999,^[9] two locations that Manthey would later become regular competitors at as works entries with Porsche.

Manthey Racing competed in German touring car racing with Mercedes-Benz machinery in 1992, 2001, and 2002, with a best finish of 3rd in the DTM teams' standings in 2001 with Huisman, Bernd Mayländer, and Marcel Tiemann. After a period of 21 years, the team returned to DTM circles in the 2023 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, where they won both drivers' and teams' championships with Dennis Olsen and series champion Thomas Preining.^[10] After a down year in the 2024 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Manthey bounced back to win both titles in the 2025 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, with Ayhancan Güven ending the season as champion.^[11]

Manthey Racing raced in the Bathurst 12 Hour for the first time at the 2023 Bathurst 12 Hour, where the team of Preining, Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet scored a 2nd-place finish overall on their first attempt, less than a second behind overall winners SunEnergy1 Racing. On Manthey's second attempt, they won the 2024 Bathurst 12 Hour, winning outright with #912 driven by Campbell, Ayhancan Güven, and Laurens Vanthoor,^[12][13] and in Pro-Am with #911 driven by Yasser Shahin, Alessio Picariello, and Harry King.^[14] The team also competed in the Asian Le Mans Series for the first time in 2024–25 and won in dominant fashion, occupying the top two spots in the GT class standings and winning the title with #92 driven by Antares Au, Klaus Bachler, and Joel Sturm, receiving an invite to the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans in the process.^[15] In 2026, Manthey Racing entered the 2026 IMSA SportsCar Championship, committing to a Michelin Endurance Cup campaign.^[16]

Manthey Racing's first run at the Nürburgring in any competitive capacity came in 1998, winning a VLN race outright with a Porsche 911 GT2 after 3 hours and 25 minutes of racing.^[9] Since then, Manthey Racing has been a regular competitor at the Nürburgring, most notably in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring endurance event, in which they've participated annually since 2006, with 2012 being their only absence as Olaf Manthey opted to enter the International GT Open instead. They are the most successful team in the event, with a record-setting seven overall victories, tied by Scherer Sport PHX in 2024.

The team's first of several appearances at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring came in 2006, entering with additional factory driver support from Porsche, running a 996-generation 911 GT3.^[17] Lucas Luhr, Timo Bernhard, Mike Rockenfeller, and Marcel Tiemann took victory for Manthey Racing in the event, and due to favorable conditions and stiff competition from rival cars, also achieved what was then a new overall distance record (3,832 km (2,381 mi) in 151 laps). Manthey would secure three further overall victories in the next three years (2007, 2008, 2009) while also retaining the same lineup of four drivers.^[18][19][20] After an unsuccessful campaign in 2010 which saw all but one Manthey car retire,^[21] the team returned to winning form in 2011.^[22] Manthey did not participate in 2012 as Olaf Manthey opted to compete in the International GT Open, but returned in 2013, finishing 7th overall with Bernhard, Dumas, Lieb, and Lucas Luhr and winning the SP7 class. The class win also marked Porsche's 500th group victory at the Nürburgring.^[23]

After a seven-year drought, Manthey took their sixth overall victory at the 2018 24 Hours of Nürburgring. In 2021, Manthey secured a record-setting seventh victory at the 2021 24 Hours of Nürburgring after just nine hours of racing.^[24] In 2025, Manthey took pole position and the win on the road, however, they suffered a 100-second penalty following Kévin Estre's collision with Dörr Motorsport's Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4, and fell to 2nd.^[25]

Before joining the FIA World Endurance Championship and competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans under Porsche's works programme, Manthey Racing made its Le Mans debut as a privateer in the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, entering a Porsche 996 GT3 R. The team won on their first attempt in the LMGT class with Huisman, Uwe Alzen, and Luca Riccitelli. Manthey Racing has supported Porsche's works programme in the series since 2013.

Porsche and Manthey entered their first season together in 2013 in the FIA World Endurance Championship with the newly-unveiled Porsche 911 RSR.^[26] The team selected Jörg Bergmeister, Patrick Pilet, Timo Bernhard, Marc Lieb, Richard Lietz, and Romain Dumas for the lineups. The team scored six podiums throughout the season, including a 1-2 victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. They would finish 3rd and 4th in the LM GTE Pro teams' standings.

For the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship, Porsche and Manthey would finish 2nd and 4th with their #92 and #91 entries respectively, taking two wins and eight podiums, including a 3rd place finish in the LM GTE Pro class at the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans.^[27] Bernhard, Dumas, and Lieb were replaced with Frédéric Makowiecki, Nick Tandy, and Marco Holzer, as the former three would drive for Porsche's Le Mans Prototype team. Building on their progress the following year, Porsche and Manthey were able to secure the FIA Endurance Trophy for the LM GTE Pro class in the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship. Lietz also won the LM GTE drivers' championship that year, known as the 'World Endurance Cup for GT Drivers'.^[28] From 2016 to 2023, the Manthey name was removed from the entry lists, though the team continued to help support Porsche's LM GTE efforts. In 2022, Porsche, with Manthey Racing's help, prepped two Porsche 911 Turbo S sports cars to be used as safety cars for the FIA World Endurance Championship.^[29]

With the series transitioning to Group GT3 ahead of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship following the retirement of the LM GTE class, Manthey Racing was selected once again by Porsche to help operate its LMGT3 team.^[30][31] The team's name returned to the entry lists that season and participated with cars #91 with EMA Motorsport driven by Lietz, Yasser Shahin, and Morris Schuring, and #92 with PureRxcing driven by Klaus Bachler, Alex Malykhin, and Joel Sturm. Both entries took home two wins each, including a class win at the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans with the #91 car.^[32] With a round to spare, the #92 car clinched the drivers' and teams' titles at the 2024 6 Hours of Fuji,^[33] and the #91 car's 5th-place finish in the following race at the 2024 8 Hours of Bahrain secured the team and Porsche a 1-2 in the LMGT3 teams' standings.

Weeks after the conclusion of the season, Manthey Racing announced that they would be campaigning the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship with cars backed by 1st Phorm and Iron Dames respectively.^[34] Iron Dames, alongside Iron Lynx, had previously used Porsche machinery in the series in 2023 to varying levels of success before switching to the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 in 2024.^[35] Among the lineups, Lietz was retained for another season, racing alongside Riccardo Pera and Ryan Hardwick in car #92. Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting, and Célia Martin were set to drive the sister #85 car.^[34] Heading into the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans, Manthey were granted a third entry after they had secured the 2024–25 Asian Le Mans Series championship with Bachler, Sturm, and Antares Au earlier that year.^[15] The ALMS title-winning third car was used as part of a promotional campaign for the F1 film starring Brad Pitt, wearing the livery of the fictional Chip Hart Racing team from the film.^[36][37] Manthey secured back-to-back Le Mans wins and championships each with the #92 crew.^[38][39]

Alongside their motor racing ventures, Manthey also operates a specialized tuning department that focuses on enhancing the performance and handling characteristics of Porsche road cars, particularly on the 911 and Cayman models.^[40] The department works closely with Porsche, and many of its products and upgrades are developed in cooperation with the manufacturer, often carrying Porsche-approved OEM status.

Sports cars tuned by Manthey typically carry an 'MR' suffix, which stands for 'Manthey Racing'.^[41]

Porsche have previously conducted official lap record attempts at the Nürburgring Nordschleife with Manthey packages. In 2021, Porsche development driver Lars Kern set the production car lap record at the Nordschleife, setting a time of 6:43.300 with a Porsche 911 GT2 RS with a 'Manthey Performance Kit' installed.^[42][43] The production car record was held for three years until Mercedes-AMG beat the lap time in 2024 with their One sports car.

• Olaf Manthey
• Porsche in motorsport