Boutsen VDS has confirmed the driver line-ups for both of its full-season Audis for the 2023 World Challenge Europe GT Endurance Cup.
Having largely focused on single-car entries in the Fanatec GT Endurance Cup in recent seasons, Boutsen VDS has opted to expand its operation for this season and compete in the full 10-round championship with a pair of Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO IIs.
The team’s #9 Audi will compete in the Gold Cup class Aurélien Panis and Alberto Di Folco in the Sprint Cup races. The duo will be joined by Adam Eteki for the Endurance races.
The sister #10 car will gun for Silver Cup honours at Fanatec GT Endurance Cup rounds with the young crew of Andrea Cola, César Gazeau and Roee Meyuhas. In Sprint, the #10 will compete in the Gold Cup class with Eteki and Gazeau sharing the wheel.
Eteki retains his place with the team following a strong debut season in 2022, while Panis joins Boutsen VDS after two years with fellow Audi squad Saintéloc Racing. Di Folco meanwhile is preparing for his first full programme after making numerous one-off appearances in recent seasons.
Though just 19, Gazeau is the only member of the trio with Fanatec GT Europe experience: the Frenchman completed last year’s Endurance schedule with Sainteloc Racing and was previously FFSA GT Am champion in 2020. His teammates also have significant GT experience. Meyuhas graduates to GT3 competition after winning last year’s GT4 European Series crown, while Cola earned the Italian GT Endurance title and made his Fanatec GT Europe debut at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
2023 is set to be a milestone year for the Belgian squad, s athe Boutsen Racing operation, led by Olivier Lainé and Olivia Boutsen has joined forces with Marc Van der Straten. The latter is best known for his fan-favourite Marc VDS programme, which earned a popular home victory at the 2015 24 Hours of Spa as a BMW customer team (below).
Boutsen VDS will begin its new alliance at the season-opening Endurance Cup race at Monza on 21-23 April. The Sprint campaign gets under way at Brands Hatch on 13-14 May, while its home event, the marquee CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, is scheduled for 29 June/2 July.
Featued image courtesy of GT World Challenge Europe
