BMW M Motorsport has tweaked ROWE Racing’s World Challenge Europe driver line-up this weekend due to the clash between the IMSA ‘Battle on the Bricks’ at Indianapolis and the Endurance Cup race at Monza clash.
The two driver changes in question concern the #98 ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3, where Robin Frijns and Maxime Oosten will replace regular IMSA drivers Philipp Eng and Nick Yelloly.
The two Dutchmen will race alongside full-season driver Marco Wittmann. While Frijns has already raced for ROWE Racing at the 24 Hours Nürburgring, this will be BMW M2 Cup champion Oosten’s first race with the Hans-Peter Naundorf-led team and first start in World Challenge Europe.
This decision allows BMW Team RLL to compete with its regular driver line-ups in IMSA’s GTP class. In the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8, Philipp Eng will share driving duties with Jesse Krohn, while Nick Yelloly will team up with Connor De Phillippi in the #25 car.
“We are facing another double-header weekend, which presents us with particular challenges in terms of personnel,” said Andreas Roos, the Head of BMW M Motorsport.
“However, as BMW M Motorsport, we are committed to executing a comprehensive racing programme, and we gladly embrace this challenge. We have decided to give young talent Maxime Oosten the opportunity to compete on the big GT3 stage against the best in the sport.
“Despite being only 20 years old, he has already gathered considerable experience in BMW M Motorsport race cars. This season, he is playing a key role in the ADAC GT Masters with FK Performance Motorsport title fight which is impressive.
“This weekend, he will surely learn a lot from top drivers like Marco Wittmann and Robin Frijns, as well as from a world-class team like ROWE Racing. From a sporting perspective, the goal at Monza is to keep the title fights open in both the overall standings and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and, ideally, to improve our position.
“In the IMSA series, we have another chance to return to the podium with the BMW M Hybrid V8 at the end of what has been a challenging season. I wish all teams and drivers the best of luck.”
