On the weekend of 25-26 July GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS will start, with a reshuffled calendar reduced to eight events. Imola hosts the 3-hour race that opens the Endurance season, and two weeks later, Misano will set the scene for the Sprint season.
Belgian Audi Club Team WRT is determined to fight again for victory in the formerly-denominated Blancpain GT Series and will enter three Audi R8 LMS in both Cups. Incidentally, Team WRT’s 2020 car is being launched today as part of Assetto Corsa Competizione.
In Endurance, Dries Vanthoor, Charles Weerts and Christopher Mies will drive one of the Pro cars, with the other entrusted to Mirko Bortolotti, Rolf Ineichen and Kelvin van der Linde. One car will compete for Silver Cup honours with Stuart Hall, Benjamin Goethe and Rik Breukers.
In Sprint, Belgian duo Vanthoor and Weerts will be fielded along the pair formed by Jusuf and Hamza Owega, two German brothers, and the one composed of Van der Linde and Ryuichiro Tomita.
Vincent Vosse, WRT Team Principal: “We are eager and thrilled about going back to the tracks and race again. It is not going to be ‘business as usual’, or like we used to know it until now, but it is great news. The pandemic isn’t over yet, we will have to cope with it for a while, and remain very vigilant. Racing will be different, there will be new rules and new factors to be taken into account, and we all will have to act responsibly and not do mistakes.
Team WRT has gone through the lock-down safely and smoothly. We ceased all racing activity mid-March: a part of our workforce went into the temporary unemployment schemes, and other team members went working for the Weerts group of which we are part. On 25 May, we partially resumed activities, reaching again the usual set-up on 3rd June.
The unexpected situation has led us to slightly review some of our plans, but we are delighted to have in place three great main programs. In the GT World Challenge Europe, we have worked hard and done everything it had to be done in order to be fighting again for top positions. We opted for a 3-car entry both in Endurance and Sprint and we have very strong line-ups."
GT World Challenge Europe – Endurance
#31 Mirko Bortolotti (IT) - Rolf Ineichen (CH) - Kelvin van der Linde (ZA) Pro
#32 Christopher Mies (DE) - Dries Vanthoor (BE) - Charles Weerts (BE) Pro
#33 Rik Breukers (NL) - Benjamin Goethe (DE) - Stuart Hall (GB) Silver
GT World Challenge Europe - Sprint
#31 Ryuichiro Tomita (JP) - Kelvin van der Linde (ZA) Pro
#32 Dries Vanthoor (BE) - Charles Weerts (BE) Pro
#33 Hamza Owega (DE) - Jusuf Owega (DE) Silver
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WRT Press Release