Guven Found WEC Transition Tougher Than He Imagined

Photo: Andrea Lorenzina/DPPI

Porsche’s Ayhancan Guven admits that he found the transition to the FIA World Endurance Championship’s LMGT3 class “harder than I expected” as he got used to coaching less experienced teammates for the first time with the Manthey squad.

The Turkish driver, who arrived in the WEC as defending DTM champion, is sharing a car this year with James Cottingham and Timur Boguslavskiy, with the No. 91 crew sitting eighth in the teams’ championship ahead of this weekend’s Monza finale.

While Guven brought a wealth of experience of Porsche GT3 machinery to the lineup, his main campaigns until this year have mostly been in either in single-driver series like the DTM or have involved sharing a car as part of all-Pro lineups.

Reflecting on the transition, Guven said it took time to get used to sharing information with Cottingham and Boguslavskiy, who he feels have gradually improved in the 911 GT3 R Evo transitioning from McLaren and BMW machinery.

“Honestly, first of all, it was harder than I expected it to be,” Guven told Sportscar365.

“You drive the session, then you debrief with the engineers, but then on the other side your teammates are waiting for your feedback and some driving advice. So actually sometimes it was quite hard to do everything together.

“But I always try to help James and Timur between the sessions, and after the sessions, and I must say it’s working. This is their first season with the Porsche GT3 R, it’s quite a different car to drive, so it needs a bit of time, but they are both doing better.

“I’m still not used to it, because I really like to work in the details and just focus on my driving, improve the car and improve the team. I never did this before, coaching my teammates, so it’s a bit weird still. But it’s part of the WEC.

“And then I think getting to know James and Timur better and better every weekend, it has also helped me to communicate with them easier.

“When you give a different driver feedback, the way he understands sometimes can be different, also this is something I learned during the season — that sometimes what I mean is not exactly what he understands on the other side.

“Now it’s much easier to give feedback, because I know what they want to know and what they understand from what I say, so it’s also an improved process.”

As well as working with his teammates better, Guven also said that he has been able to fully adopt the endurance mindset in his driving, with his status as the designated Pro for the No. 91 car means he is not involved in qualifying at all.

“I remember when I came into GT3 for the first time, everyone was telling me that I’m too aggressive with my driving, that my inputs are killing the tires and everything,” he said.

“I worked on it when I was at the beginning of my GT3 career to be much smoother, and now I am hearing from the engineers and everyone how smooth I am. Sometimes I am surprising myself, but I think I’m now more used endurance-style driving.

“I still have the sprint driving style, but as soon as I know I’m going to do an endurance weekend, from the beginning of the weekend I just focus on the long runs. Even from practice, I’m focusing on looking after tires, on how the car feels over the long run.

“I am still doing some other tests and simulations with other cars in other championships that are very sprint-related, and I still have this, let’s say, sharp driving style.

“Now I have feeling that I have now two different options that I could choose from my driving style, and this year most of the time I need to just use the endurance style.”

Whether or not Guven remains in WEC next season is uncertain, especially as persistent rumors have linked him to a Formula E future with Porsche.

The Turkish driver has been strongly tipped to join the Fusion team that will join the season for the upcoming campaign using the Weissach marque’s powertrain.

“I’m not sure exactly what are my plans for next year,” Guven said when asked about his WEC future. “I think first we need to finish the season on a high in the WEC.

“This is the priority, this is what I’m focusing on. And then I think after Monza, we will sit together with Porsche to see what the future holds for us.”

Source: Sports Car 365