Hockenheim. The BMW M Team WRT achieved another podium finish at the Hockenheimring in Germany during the third race weekend of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS (GTWC) Sprint Cup. Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts finished in third place in the #32 BMW M4 GT3 in the Saturday race, and secured fifth place on Sunday. Valentino Rossi and Maxime Martin made an impressive comeback on Saturday, starting from 35th place and finishing in eighth position in car #46. On Sunday, they finished in seventh place.
Although no BMW M4 GT3 managed to reach the top three in the Sunday race, both driver pairings collected valuable points in the overall standings. Vanthoor and Weerts currently hold third place in the standings after six out of ten races, while Rossi and Martin are in fifth place.
In the Gold Cup, Niklas Krütten and Calan Williams celebrated a class victory on Saturday in the #30 BMW M4 GT3. However, a tire issue on Sunday limited their performance, and they could only secure fourth place in the Gold Cup. Nevertheless, they lead the driver standings in their category. Thomas Neubauer and Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer finished eleventh in both races in the #31 BMW M4 GT3.
Here are some reactions from the drivers after the races:
Dries Vanthoor (#32 BMW M4 GT3): “Overall, the weekend was rather disappointing, but we managed to collect as many points as possible. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the pace to compete for the win against the others. Hopefully, we’ll perform better next time!”
Charles Weerts (#32 BMW M4 GT3): “Despite not having the same pace as some of our competitors, we secured a podium and a fifth-place finish. The team did an outstanding job, taking advantage of the opportunities and keeping our championship hopes alive.”
Valentino Rossi (#46 BMW M4 GT3): “We faced more challenges at Hockenheim compared to Brands Hatch and Misano. Tire wear was particularly difficult for us. However, we managed to earn good points with the eighth and seventh places. Saturday’s comeback was fantastic. On Sunday, we had higher expectations, but it was challenging to maintain our pace, especially in the second half of the race. Overall, it wasn’t too bad.”
Maxime Martin (#46 BMW M4 GT3): “Finishing in the top ten in both races is a solid result. The Saturday race, where we went from 35th to eighth, was especially impressive. Such a comeback is unexpected. On Sunday, we started and finished in seventh place. There was more potential, especially after my strong start where I was third. However, we experienced a minor issue during the pit stop that cost us some time. Additionally, it seems we struggled to maintain our speed compared to the competition over the race distance.”