Nürburgring. They’ve done it again. ROWE Racing and the driver
trio Augusto Farfus (BRA), Jesse Krohn (FIN), and Raffaele Marciello
(SUI) have claimed their second endurance race victory of the season
at the Nürburgring (GER). Following their triumph at the 24-hour
race in June, the team and drivers also secured victory with the #98
BMW M4 GT3 EVO in the three-hour race of the GT World Challenge
Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup. Additional podium finishes went
to AlManar Racing by WRT in the Gold Cup and Century Motorsport in
the Silver Cup
.
Farfus started from pole position and confidently defended the lead
during his first stint. After the first pit stops, the car dropped to
second place, but a later second stop and a fortuitous yellow flag
brought final driver Marciello back to the front from where he
confidently maintained the lead until the finish. The #32 BMW M4 GT3
EVO crew from Team WRT had a disappointing day. Ugo de Wilde, Charles
Weerts (both BEL), and Kelvin van der Linde (RSA) set the fastest time
in qualifying but received a five position grid penalty due to a
collision. In the race, the crew lacked the necessary pace to keep up
with the leaders and finished only in eleventh place overall, which
meant ninth place in the Pro Cup.
There were additional podium finishes to celebrate for the BMW M
Motorsport teams in the Gold and Silver Cups. The #777 BMW M4 GT3 EVO
from AlManar Racing by WRT, driven by Jens Klingmann (GER), Al Faisal
Al Zubair (OMA), and Ben Tuck (GBR), finished second in the Gold Cup.
Century Motorsport secured third place in the Silver category with the
#42 BMW M4 GT3 EVO and drivers Mex Jansen (NED), William Moore (GBR),
and Jarrod Waberski (RSA). Fifth and sixth places in the Silver Cup
went to Paradine Competition and Team WRT, respectively. In the Bronze
Cup, BMW Italia Ceccato Racing finished eighth. The #991 BMW M4 GT3
EVO from Paradine Competition retired following an unavoidable collision.
Comments after the race.
Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport):
“Congratulations to ROWE Racing on another fantastic
triumph at the Nürburgring! I fondly remember our celebration after
the victory at the 24-hour race in June. That was one of the absolute
highlights of the season. Now, standing on the top step of the podium
on the Grand Prix circuit is a very strong achievement. Thank you to
everyone for their hard work! Congratulations also to the winning
drivers Augusto Farfus, Jesse Krohn, and Raffaele Marciello, as well
as to AlManar Racing by WRT and Century Motorsport for their
additional podium finishes with the BMW M4 GT3 EVO. It’s unfortunate
that things didn’t go well for the Team WRT #32 crew. This is a
setback in the title race, but we still have one event left in both
the Endurance and Sprint Cups and still have every chance. We will
analyse the Nürburgring results together and come back stronger for
the Valencia and Barcelona races.”
Hans-Peter Naundorf (Team Principal, ROWE Racing):
“Two consecutive wins at the Nürburgring after our
triumph at the 24-hour race – that’s impressive! The drivers and team
delivered an outstanding performance and had an almost perfect
weekend. Qualifying went well, and we were consistently strong in the
race. Although we temporarily lost the lead, our strategy to make the
final stop later and potentially benefit from a yellow flag paid off.
We’ve come back strong after the summer break and are looking forward
to the season finale at Barcelona.”
Augusto Farfus (#98 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, ROWE Racing, 1st
place): “The Nürburgring has been very kind to us this
season! A win on the short track and one on the long circuit – that
puts a smile on our faces. Huge compliments to ROWE Racing! We were
competitive from the first practice session and rewarded ourselves
with first place. Now it’s time to celebrate.”
Jesse Krohn (#98 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, ROWE Racing, 1st place):
“This is a big win for the team at its home race and
also for me. Expectations were high after our 24-hour race victory,
but we all did a great job together and achieved the perfect result.
I’ll remember this win for a long time. Thank you to the entire team
and BMW M Motorsport.”
Raffaele Marciello (#98 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, ROWE Racing, 1st
place): “It was a very good day. We were very strong
and showed good pace in the race, even though we temporarily lost the
lead due to strategy. We managed to regain it. In recent years, BMW M
Motorsport hasn’t been as strong on the Grand Prix circuit of the
Nürburgring in the GT World Challenge Europe. It’s great to have
changed that now.”
Charles Weerts (#32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT, 11th place):
“We lost quite a bit of time during practice and were
therefore a bit on the back foot at the start. However, we made a
great comeback with the fastest time in qualifying. Unfortunately, we
received a grid penalty for the incident with the Mercedes. In my
opinion, he crossed my line, but it is what it is. Even from sixth
place, we still had every chance in the race, but for some reason, we
just didn’t have the pace. Now we need to investigate why that
happened and do better next time. Congratulations to ROWE Racing and
the #98 crew on their victory.”
Jens Klingmann (#777 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, AlManar Racing by Team
WRT, 2nd place Gold Cup): “We can be proud of second
place in the Gold Cup. I don’t think more was possible today. The
track was very slippery, which made it quite difficult for all of us.
But we secured another podium and lots of points for the championship.
We’re happy with that.”
Mex Jansen (#42 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Century Motorsport, 3rd place
Silver Cup): “I’m super happy with our performance and
third place. The race was chaotic at times with lots of battles, but
we fought our way forward. Now we have every chance to win the Silver
Cup title at the Barcelona finale. Let’s go get it!”