BMW Motorsport is set to be represented by eight cars in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup this year and five in the Sprint Cup.
In the Endurance races – which includes the Spa 24 Hours – the line-up is spearheaded by a pair of Pro entries from ROWE Racing and Team WRT.
ROWE’s #98 M4 GT3 EVO will be steered by Augusto Farfus, Raffaele Marciello and Jesse Krohn. Meanwhile, newly-minted BMW works drivers Ugo de Wilde and Kelvin van der Linde will team up at WRT with Charles Weerts and drive the #32.
This is a reduction in commitment from both teams, who operated two cars apiece last season.
Elsewhere, in the Endurance Cup field, WRT will operate two additional cars, one of which is for AlManar Racing in the Gold category, as will Paradine Competition, Century Motorsport and BMW Italia Ceccato Racing.
Paradine, owned by Darren Leung, is now operating independently from Century Motorsport and will also compete in the Sprint Cup with a pair of M4s.
Joining Paradine in the Sprint Cup is WRT, which will field a further trio of M4 GT3 EVOs. The #31 from WRT will race in the Pro category with van der Linde and Weerts behind the wheel.
A noteable absentee from BMW’s driver roster this year is Dries Vanthoor, who previously formed a part of WRT’s World Challenge Europe line-up every year since 2016. The Belgian is taking on a dual FIA WEC/IMSA programme with the German brand driving an M Hybrid V8 across the season.
“It will be fantastic to see so many BMW M4 GT3 EVO cars on the starting grid of the GT World Challenge Europe. We have very strong pro crews with which we aim to compete for overall victories and titles,” said Andreas Roos, head of BMW M Motorsport.
“Additionally, there are pleasingly many customer teams taking on the challenge in one of the strongest GT racing series in the world and also aiming for titles in all classes.
“In its first races this season in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, our BMW M4 GT3 EVO immediately achieved victories and demonstrated its enormous potential. Hopefully, many more will follow throughout the season.”
BMW’s full line-up
Endurance Cup:
#32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT
Ugo de Wilde (BEL)
Kelvin van der Linde (RSA)
Charles Weerts (BEL)
#98 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, ROWE Racing
Augusto Farfus (BRA)
Jesse Krohn (FIN)
Raffaele Marciello (SUI)
#777 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, AlManar Racing by Team WRT
Al Faisal Al Zubair (OMA)
Jens Klingmann (GER)
Ben Tuck (GBR)
#30 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT
Gustav Bergström (SWE)
Etienne Cheli (FRA)
Gilles Stadsbader (BEL)
#991 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Paradine Competition
Darren Leung (GBR)
Toby Sowery (GBR, selected rounds)
Dan Harper (GBR)
#992 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Paradine Competition
James Kellett (GBR)
Pedro Ebrahim (BRA)
Charles Clark (GBR)
#15 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, BMW Italia Ceccato Racing
Marcelo Tomasoni (BRA)
Federico Malvestiti (ITA)
Felice Jelmini (ITA)
#42 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Century Motorsport
Jarrod Waberski (RSA)
Will Moore (GBR)
Mex Jansen (NED)
Sprint Cup
#31 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT
Kelvin van der Linde (RSA)
Charles Weerts (BEL)
#777 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, AlManar Racing by Team WRT
Al Faisal Al Zubair (OMA)
Jens Klingmann (GER)
#30 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT
Gustav Bergström (SWE)
Gilles Stadsbader (BEL)
#991 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Paradine Competition
Darren Leung (GBR)
Dan Harper (GBR)
#992 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Paradine Competition
Mex Jansen (NED)
Maxime Oosten (NED)
Images courtesy of BMW
