BMW M Team WRT 2023 successes
Team WRT was honoured this week as the 2023 RACB (Royal Automobile Club of Belgium) Team of the Year for the eighth time (2011, 2013-14, 2017-18, 2020-21) after two double titles both in WEC and GT World Challenge Europe.
LMP2 Champions in WEC
📷 © Luc Warnotte. Rui Andrade, Louis Delétraz and Robert Kubica won LMP2 class at Spa-Francorchamps with Team WRT Oreca #41.
Team WRT trio Robert Kubica, Louis Deletraz and Rui Andrade were crowned LMP2 champions, 59 points ahead of second, clinching both team’s and driver’s LMP2 titles. The #41 WRT crew had a phenomenal year in WEC finishing 6 races on the podium (with three victories in Spa, Fuji and Bahrein) in seven attempts.
📷 © Luc Warnotte. At the 2023 1000 Miles of Sebring, #41 ended 4th and sister #31 6th.
The 2023 double-title comes after the one conquered in 2021, and after finishing runner-up in 2022. In total, Team WRT has won 10 of the 19 FIA WEC races contested in those three seasons, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2021.
📷 © Luc Warnotte. At the 24 Hours Le Mans 2023, #41 ended second of LMP2 class (right). At the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Robin Frijns, Sean Gelael and Ferdinand Habsburg with #31 Team WRT Oreca finished sixth (left).
Team WRT will start 2024 with its journey in Hypercars, defending the colours of BMW M Motorsport.
GT3 Racing
📷 © Luc Warnotte. Niklas Kruetten and Calan Williams associated to Jean Baptiste Simmenauer at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, ended second of Gold Cup class with #30 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3.
Niklas Kruetten and Calan Williams won both the Overall and Sprint Cup Driver titles in the Gold class of The Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS championship, with four Sprint race wins along the way.
Team WRT also clinched two Sprint race wins for Maxime Martin and Valentino Rossi at Misano, and defending triple champions Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts at Valencia.
📷 © Luc Warnotte. At Monza, Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon van der Linde and Charles Weerts ended sixth overall with #32 BMW M4 GT3. At the 3 Hours of Nürburgring, Maxime Martin, Augusto Farfus and Valentino Rossi didn’t finish after qualifying 22nd!
📷 Courtesy of BMW M Motorsport. BMW M4 GT3.
Away from SRO-organised series, Team WRT started the year triumphantly with a quintet of drivers (Al Saud, Klingmann, Menchaca, Simmenauer, Vanthoor) taking their BMW M4 GT3 to victory in the Dubai 24 Hours, and giving WRT its third success in the Emirati race.
Later in the year, Valentino Rossi, paired with Jérôme Policand, took his very first GT3 win in race 2 at Road to Le Mans, the well-attended curtain-raiser event that features in the 24 Hours of Le Mans programme. The day prior, the WRT sister car of Tim Whale and Max Hesse won race 1. Source: Team WRT
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