Olaf Manthey


Olaf Manthey is a German former racing driver and team owner.
Primarily competing in touring cars in Germany, he later founded eponymous racing team Manthey Racing in Rheinbreitbach, which also included a tuning department for Porsche road cars. As both driver and team owner, Manthey's team has accumulated numerous wins and championships, most notably accruing seven overall victories at the Nürburgring 24 Hours. He currently holds a 9% minority stake in Manthey Racing.

Career

Manthey's career as a driver began in 1974. In the 1980s, he won two races of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft. Retiring as DTM racer after 1993, since 1994 he worked for Persson Motorsport in Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, which ran Mercedes cars.File:-911 Porsche 911 GT3 R - Manthey Racing.jpg|thumb|Manthey's eponymously named team has become notable for its Nürburgring ventures in Porsches, such as with this 997 GT3 R wearing their signature "Grello" livery.After the DTM faltered in late 1996, he set up his own business near the Nürburgring, focusing on Porsche road cars and his team Manthey Racing in the German Porsche Carrera Cup, which he as driver had won in 1990, and in the Porsche Supercup. He continued racing on the long Nürburgring, mostly in the 1990s with DTM-based Mercedes 190, later with Porsche 911 GT3. Since 1999, his team receives a various degree of factory support from Porsche, or acts as factory team, or with factory-paid drivers.
In 2012, Manthey decided to leave the VLN series and enter the International GT Open instead. However, the team still ran a car at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring that year.
Manthey has taken 30 overall victories at the Nürburgring Endurance Series in his career, more than any other driver.

Personal life

Manthey married his wife Renate in 1982. Together, they have two children, a son and daughter. His son passed away in a car accident in 2007.

Results

Driver