Last year, Kessel Racing was the dominant force in GT World Challenge Europe’s Bronze Cup class, recording a clean sweep of all six available titles.
Its reward? An automatic invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and a Le Mans debut for its two full-time drivers Dustin Blattner and Dennis Marschall, with the pair set to race its #74 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo alongside Lorenzo Patrese.
“Going to my first Le Mans seems quite daunting, because it’s such an iconic and eventful race for all motorsports fans, and it’s a huge celebration,” Blattner tells DSC.
“You have the Hypercars, you have the night, and these things are all things that I’ve never experienced as a Bronze driver. The track is really well lived, and managing traffic at this track is quite nice, so I’m quite excited for the main event.”
This 2025 GT World Challenge Europe success came off the back of a near-miss for the American during his first year in GT3 racing. Racing for Porsche team Rutronik Racing at the time, he and Marschall came up just two points short of the Le Mans invite in 2024, after winning four of the last six races.
This run made the goal for last season easy to set, with a switch to Kessel’s Ferrari delivering four wins, including at the 24 Hours of Spa, and, despite several strikes of misfortune, a relatively comfortable run to the Endurance, Sprint and season-long titles.
“I’m really happy for not only myself, but the team as well,” Blattner says. “We put in the time and the effort after coming close the first time we tried to do it.
“[2024] was something we didn’t expect, to be honest, just because it was the first season in GT3. The second season we had a clear focus, which is part of the reason we also switched manufacturers, and stayed with some of the same drivers to have some consistency.”
Le Mans is set to be Blattner’s first race with a GT3 car running torque sensors, with the technology not utilised in GT World Challenge or the Asian Le Mans Series, where he, Marschall and Kessel, joined by Chris Lulham, added another title and Le Mans invitation over the winter months.
With the torque sensors, as well as a switch from Pirelli to Goodyear rubber, Blattner enters Le Mans at a notable experience disadvantage to the majority of his Bronze-rated peers, but despite this he is still confident of a strong result, something which was backed up by
“We had one test day of Paul Ricard,” Blattner states. “And then we were going to do Aragon, but I had to cancel this, so I think we could have had more test time, but overall I feel like we’re in a decent spot.
“It’s my first time as well on the Goodyear tyre, which is quite different than the Pirelli. I feel like the Goodyear has a bit more flex on the sidewall. You hear a bit more audible noise as well from the tyre. I would say it’s a tyre you can read a little bit better on what the car is doing overall compared to the Pirelli.
With Conrad Laursen and Zacharie Robichon having played a role in Kessel’s GT World Challenge programme, Lulham joining the team in the Asian Le Mans Series, and then Patrese piloting the #74 this year, Blattner has become used to racing alongside different Silver-ranked drivers.
The consistent presence alongside him across the past three years has been Marschall, who teamed up with Blattner after leaving Audi Sport at the end of 2023.
“Working with Dennis has been a pleasure,” Blattner explains.
“I would say right off the bat, after the first time we met, our personalities jived really well, and I think this is a clear part in what makes us successful. We can really relate well, and we can communicate well effectively.”
This assessment is matched by his co-driver, Dennis Marschall, who believes level of competition in GT World Challenge is so high that this weekend’s race shouldn’t prove overwhelming once the flag drops. “Dustin’s plan from the beginning was to be in Le Mans at some point,” reveals Marschall.
“We know each other well. We know what’s what it takes to win the Bronze Cup in GT World Challenge. We match quite well and we’re good in our positions. [Le Mans] just belongs, I think, on a similar level to Nurburgring. As a German, Nürburgring is very big. Internationally Le Mans is maybe even bigger. so it’s good to tick off the box, and it would be nice to be successful.
“Kessel’s experienced at Le Mans, but of course you know for all three of us, we’re new to WEC, so our first week round, basically. So I think this will be a bit of a challenge to get used to everything and to get to know the little tricks, but I think in terms of driver line-up and the team, I think we’re well sorted out.
“I was very happy that we won the SRO Bronze championship. I think you saw that it got quite competitive in the last one or two years, so I think I’m more proud of achieving the successful 2025 season, and now this is kind of the reward for it.”
