GT World Challenge Europe: Podium finishes in all classes at the Endurance Cup season opener at Le Castellet.

Le Castellet. The BMW M Motorsport teams started the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup season with strong results. In the 6-hour race at Le Castellet (FRA), a BMW M4 GT3 EVO crew reached the podium in all four classes. The reigning overall champions Kelvin van der Linde (RSA) and Charles Weerts (BEL), together with Jordan Pepper (RSA), finished fourth overall, which also meant third place in the Pro Cup. BMW M Motorsport newcomer Tim Tramnitz (GER) celebrated a strong debut, finishing third in the Gold Cup alongside Jens Klingmann (GER) and Ugo de Wilde (BEL). In the Silver and Bronze Cup, Team WRT and Paradine Competition celebrated podium finishes.

No win, but plenty of respectable results and many important points were recorded at the end of the race at Circuit Paul Ricard. The #32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Pepper, van der Linde and Weerts stayed in the top five for much of the race but lacked the final bit of pace to challenge for victory. The same applied to the #98 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of ROWE Racing. Starting from 22nd on the grid, Jake Dennis (GBR), Augusto Farfus (BRA) and Raffaele Marciello (SUI) had a great comeback drive to finish sixth overall. The #46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, driven by Dan Harper (GBR), Max Hesse (GER) and Valentino Rossi (ITA), lost significant time due to a 30-second penalty for ignoring blue flags and finished in twelfth place.

In the Gold Cup, newcomer Tramnitz impressed in his first two stints in a GT race car with strong lap times and made a major contribution to the podium finish for the #998 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of ROWE Racing in the iconic GEN M design. In the Silver Cup, Amaury Cordeel, Matisse Lismont (both BEL) and Ignacio Montenegro (ARG) in the #30 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Team WRT fought for victory until the final lap and crossed the line in second place. In the Bronze Cup, BMW M works driver Dries Vanthoor (BEL), together with James Kellett and Darren Leung (both GBR), finished third in the #991 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Paradine Competition.

Reactions after the race.

Vincent Vosse (Team Principal, WRT): “I think we got the maximum out of this race. Fourth overall and third in the Pro Cup mean valuable points for car #32. Unfortunately, car #46 received a penalty. I’m very happy about the podium for our car #30. Now we will analyse everything, work hard, and come back stronger in the next races.”

Kelvin van der Linde (#32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT, 4th place): “We worked well as a driver crew and got the maximum out of our package. The guys at the front were just a bit too fast for us this time but we scored important points for both the Endurance Cup and the overall standings. The season is still long, and hopefully we’ll be stronger again at the next race event.”

Augusto Farfus (#98 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, ROWE Racing, 6th place): “This sixth place from starting position 22 feels like a podium. We didn’t have the package we needed here to fight for a podium finish but we fought hard and scored important championship points. Now we’ll aim to do better at the next race at Monza.”

Valentino Rossi (#46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT, 12th place): “A better result would have been possible for us, as our pace wasn’t bad for much of the race. However, in my second stint I had major issues with tyre grip and lost a lot of time. Then came the time penalty. That’s very unfortunate, because it put us a lap down and we had no chance to fight back into the top ten. Still, there are positives to take from this race. It was only the first weekend of a long season.”

Tim Tramnitz (#998 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, ROWE Racing, 3rd place Gold Cup): “I’m super happy with the podium! We didn’t necessarily expect that after how the weekend went. It went very well for me. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot, especially driving into the night was something completely new and special for me. Jens and Ugo also did a great job.”