Two podium finishes for Manthey in their debut appearance in the 2024/2025 ALMS at Sepang

Racing

Third place for Manthey EMA (#92) in Saturday's opening race
After a DNF the day before, the number 10 Manthey car finished second in Sunday's race to take the podium.
The team is now in fifth (#10) and sixth (#92) place in the team and drivers championship standings

Sepang. Manthey secured a podium finish with both of its Porsche 911 GT3 R at the 2024/2025 Asian Le Mans Series (ALMS) season opener at Sepang. With third place in Saturday's race, Ryan Hardwick (USA), Richard Lietz (Austria) and Riccardo Pera (Italy) in the number 92 car secured the team's first podium finish in the ALMS. Antares Au (Hong Kong), Klaus Bachler (Austria) and Joel Sturm (Germany) in starting number 10 celebrated their first podium of the season with second place in Sunday's race. Manthey leaves Sepang fifth (#10) and sixth (#92) in the GT championship standings.

Chaotic ALMS season-opener and post-race podium for Manthey EMA on Saturday

The first race of the ALMS season, held at the 5.543-kilometre Sepang International Circuit, began under chaotic conditions for the two Porsche 911 GT3 R from Manthey and Manthey EMA. The bronze drivers Antares Au and Ryan Hardwick started the four-hour race from 13th (#10) and 15th (#92) on the grid. Despite numerous accidents and safety car periods in the turbulent starting phase, both were able to make up positions and after the first two pit stops and a little more than an hour of racing, were in seventh (#92) and eleventh (#10) places. However, just under 90 minutes into the race, through no fault of his own, the Au-driven Porsche was involved in a collision with an LMP3 car, ending the race prematurely for the number 10 car. Meanwhile, silver driver Riccardo Pera took over the wheel of the Manthey EMA Porsche. The Italian steadily worked his way up the fiercely-contested GT field, handing over the nine-eleven to Richard Lietz in second place 60 minutes before the end of the race. The experienced platinum driver fought thrilling duels with the closely packed GT competition at the front. Ultimately, the starting number 92 crossed the line in fourth place. Due to a post-race penalty imposed on the third place finisher (#74, Kessel Racing), the Manthey EMA crew was later promoted to the top three, securing the team's ALMS debut podium finish.

Second place for car number 10 in Sunday's rain-shortened race

Starting from eleventh and sixteenth place on the grid, Antares Au and Ryan Hardwick entered the second ALMS race in Sepang. After the first driver changes at the halfway point of the race, both cars were in fifth (#10) and sixth (#92) place and had moved up several positions. However, heavy rain set in on parts of the track immediately after the pit stops, so Joel Sturm and Riccardo Pera – not even ten minutes after taking the wheel – were called back to the pits under the virtual safety car for rain tyres. In only partly wet conditions, both drivers had to manage their tyres and maintain their positions (#10: 7th, #92: 8th) after the safety car period. However, a puncture forced the 92 into another pit stop with about 75 minutes remaining, at which point the team brought in Richard Lietz and opted for slicks. By the three-hour mark, the rain had increased again, which played into the hands of Sturm in the starting number 10 on wets. While other teams were forced to change their slicks, the German moved up to second place before the race was red-flagged with 50 minutes to go due to the extreme weather conditions. This result secured Manthey's second podium of the weekend, while the number 92 car finished 13th after suffering the tyre damage.

With two podium places in two races, both Manthey car crews secured important first points in the ALMS GT team and drivers' standings: with 18 points, the crew of car number 10, with Antares Au, Klaus Bachler and Joel Sturm, is in fifth place in both standings, directly ahead of Ryan Hardwick, Richard Lietz and Riccardo Pera for Manthey EMA (15 points), who rank sixth respectively.

Quotes on the ALMS in Sepang:

Antares Au, Porsche 911 GT3 R #10: “It was not an easy weekend at Sepang. Our car showed early promise, but the field was very competitive and passed us on pace. Good strategy and pit work helped us stay in contention for both races, but our Race 1 was unfortunately cut short by a LMP3 driver's mistake, which damaged our chassis beyond repair. The team worked miracles to build a new car overnight from a spare chassis and it was a jolly sight to see a perfect #10 in our pitbox this morning — to the untrained eye it might as well be the same car from the day before! I’m most glad we achieved results in Race 2 and gathered valuable championship points. This is a wonderful comeback and a well-deserved podium for both drivers and crew. I look forward to continuing the fight in the UAE next February with Klaus, Joel and the Manthey team!”

Klaus Bachler, Porsche 911 GT3 R #10: “What a weekend here in Sepang for the ALMS season opener! There were many emotions involved. On Saturday, things were actually looking good for us until we were unfortunately hit by an LMP3. The car was pretty badly damaged, and we had to retire. That was a shame and probably cost us some points. The team did a mega job and built a new car overnight. The car felt good in the warm-up and in the race, we initially worked our way forward with a mega pit stop before the whole weather scenario began with intermittent rain and the decision between rain tyres and slicks. In the end, we did everything right and finished Sunday's race in second place, which is great – a huge thank you to the whole team. To be on the podium after the crash and all the work we did overnight is fantastic. We are fifth in the championship, and I am happy that we now have a good chance of continuing the fight for the championship in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. I really like both tracks and can't wait to compete there.”

Joel Sturm, Porsche 911 GT3 R #10: “It was a weekend of ups and downs for us in Sepang. After the DNF in Saturday's race, which was no fault of our own, the team did a great job rebuilding the car for the second race. Second place is obviously a great comeback and we have also secured a good starting position in the championship, which we can build on. It was a good weekend for the team too – a podium in both races is obviously a very good result. Now we want to take this momentum with us and hopefully score well in the next races too, to be in a good position in the championship at the end of the year.”

Ryan Hardwick, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92: “ALMS Round one. Personally I’m really happy with the entire weekend with this being my first weekend competing with Manthey and getting to know everyone on the team – from the engineers to the mechanics to even my co-drivers – everything was new to me. But I could not be more pleased with how welcoming everyone in the team has been and how dedicated they are to their job and their performance. The team's past results definitely speak for themselves and it's easy to see why this team is so successful. We had a bit of good strategy and luck in the first race here and ended up on the podium, so my very first race with Manthey in the Porsche ended up in third place. And then we had a bit of bad luck in the second race with the tyre damage, although we had the right strategy. Congratulations to the sister car for finishing on the podium. Overall, I'm really happy with the results and the way the weekend went.”

Richard Lietz, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92: “Two important first races for the new crew here in Sepang. One of our main focuses is to prepare for the WEC, but we also want to get some results in the ALMS. Getting the team's first podium in the first race was obviously huge for us. The podium for our sister car in the second race was more than deserved after the crew worked a night shift to rebuild the 911 GT3 R. I think Manthey can be proud and build on this performance for the rest of the season and the start of the 2025 WEC.”

Riccardo Pera, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92: “I'd say it was a positive weekend - I'm super happy and it was a pleasure to have my first race with Manthey. I got to know the team and Ryan and Richard - we are a good group and have learnt a lot about the car and the team and have worked well together this weekend. Race one was very good for us - we got on the podium and had a mega car and strategy. Unfortunately, race two didn't go as planned as the rain caused some chaos and then I got the tyre damage that forced us into another pit stop, so we were a bit unlucky in the end and ended up in P13. But like I said, all in all it was a positive weekend and the important thing is that we are learning a lot for the rest of the ALMS and the WEC season. I want to thank Manthey for giving us a good car and the team for working non-stop all weekend. A good start!”

Patrick Arkenau, Division Manager Racing, Manthey Racing GmbH: “The first ALMS weekend of the 2024/2025 season is behind us. It was a premiere in more ways than one: not only is Manthey racing in the series for the first time, but the two driver pairings were also competing for us for the first time. With third place for the 92 and second place for the 10, we were on the podium in every race of the weekend, a result we are very happy with for our ALMS debut. On the other hand, we would have liked to have had good results with both cars in both races. But the accident of the number 10 and the puncture of the number 92 were not of their fault. We would also like to give a huge compliment and thank you to our phenomenal crew who built a replacement car overnight after Antares crashed on Saturday. We are motivated to attack again in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to maximise our results. Now we look forward to a short Christmas break before we get ready to hit the ground running for the 2025 season!”

ALMS 2024/2025 race calendar:

Quotes on the ALMS in Sepang:

Impressions