A thrilling Endurance race in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS at the Nürburgring ended successfully for the BMW M Motorsport crews in all categories. Kelvin van der Linde, Charles Weerts and Jordan Pepper finished second overall with the Team WRT #32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO. In the Silver Cup, the crew of the #30 BMW M4 GT3 EVO – Matisse Lismont, Ignacio Montenegro and Amaury Cordeel – clinched the Endurance Cup title with second place in the race. Meanwhile, the trio of Jens Klingmann, Tim Tramnitz and Ugo de Wilde took the lead in the Endurance standings of the Gold Cup with the #998 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of ROWE Racing.
The three-hour race on the Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit was characterised by several Safety Car periods. Starting from eighth on the grid, Pepper, Weerts and van der Linde steadily worked their way up the field. The reward: second place and the crew’s first podium of the Endurance Cup season. Their team-mates Max Hesse, Valentino Rossi and Dan Harper also finished in the top ten, taking ninth place in the #46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
In the Silver Cup, Lismont, Montenegro and Cordeel underlined their ambitions of securing the title with pole position. Once again, they delivered a flawless race, finishing second in their category and thereby becoming Endurance champions.
For ROWE Racing, taking the lead in the Gold Cup provided a bright spot on a difficult weekend. Klingmann, de Wilde and Tramnitz, who had claimed class victory at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, finished fourth in their category with the #998 BMW M4 GT3 EVO. This was enough to move them into first place in the Endurance standings. Their team-mates Raffaele Marciello, Augusto Farfus and Jake Dennis had already struggled in qualifying. In the race, the trio in the #98 was unlucky with a Full Course Yellow period and dropped far down the field. They eventually crossed the finish line in 38th place.
The Oman Racing by Century Motorsport #42 BMW M4 GT3 EVO finished fifth in the Bronze Cup. Paradine Competition finished seventh in both categories with its two BMW M4 GT3 EVOs, the #992 in the Silver Cup and the #991 in the Bronze Cup.
It was a pretty eventful three hours of racing, but our crews and teams were able to get a lot out of it. Second place and, therefore, the first Endurance podium of the season for the #32 Team WRT car is a great and well-deserved result. Congratulations to Matisse Lismont, Ignacio Montenegro and Amaury Cordeel on clinching the Silver Cup title with one round to spare. Together with Team WRT in the #30, they are having an impressive season.
It was a positive weekend. I am very happy with second place for the #32, as well as another podium and the Endurance Silver Cup title for the #30 crew. I am proud of our young trio, who have had an incredible season so far. This title is thoroughly deserved.
We had imagined the weekend very differently. Somewhere along the way, we took a wrong turn with the set-up. We were unable to make up for that in the race either. Then we were also unlucky when we made our pit stop under green and lost a lot of time as a result. After that, it was just a gamble. If we want to take something positive away from the weekend, it is the fact that we have taken the overall lead in the Gold Cup.
Driver statements.
Charles Weerts (#32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT, 2nd overall): “I’m super happy that, in what has been such a difficult season so far, we have finally made it onto the podium in the Endurance Cup. My team-mates and the team did a great job and delivered a perfect race.”
Kelvin van der Linde (#32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT, 2nd overall): “I’m very happy that we managed to secure the team’s first Endurance Cup podium of the season. It is more than deserved. We managed to set up the car so that it worked well over the full distance at the Nürburgring. That hasn’t always been the case in the past in the GT World Challenge. I’m also pleased with the important points in the overall standings.”
Jordan Pepper (#32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT, 2nd overall): “That was a long time coming. It has been such a difficult year for us in the Endurance Cup so far. The weekend started difficult, but on Sunday we executed the perfect race. We didn’t have the pace for the win, but P2 is a great result. I’m very proud of the team. Hopefully we have turned a corner now and can take this momentum into the rest of the season, when my #32 team-mates Kelvin and Charles fight for the Sprint Cup title.”
Max Hesse (#46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT, 9th overall): “I’m pretty satisfied with the result. The race was a bit of a rollercoaster for us. I think we could have achieved more than ninth place, but at least we scored some points. Congratulations to the team, which did a great job, and to the #32 crew on the podium!”
Augusto Farfus (#98 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, ROWE Racing, 38th overall): “We lacked the pace throughout the entire weekend. Nevertheless, the team gave everything in the race and opted for a risky strategy. It looked good at times, but, without another yellow period, we had to make another pit stop shortly before the end and dropped far down the field. We won here last year, but this time we leave empty-handed. Now we are focusing on the season finale.”
Matisse Lismont (#30 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT, 2nd place and Silver Cup title): “A very positive weekend! We dominated almost every session and took P1 in qualifying as well. The race was a little unfortunate at the end, finishing P2, but I’m still very, very happy with the performance from everyone. I’m very proud of the whole team. That’s already one championship in the bag, and now we move on to Zandvoort to try and secure the Sprint Cup title and the overall Silver Cup title as well.”
Tim Tramnitz (#998 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, ROWE Racing, 4th place Gold Cup): “It’s a little disappointing that, for the first time this season, we didn’t make it onto the Gold Cup podium. But things still look good for us in the championship. Personally, I really enjoyed racing in Germany again in front of the home fans.”