With four GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup titles and an Intercontinental GT Challenge triumph to his name, Charles Weerts has picked up no shortage of silverware during his rapid rise through the sportscar ranks.
The 25-year-old, a BMW M factory driver, has been a constant presence in Team WRT’s GT World Challenge Pro roster since 2019. Remarkably, given the Belgian squad’s prowess, its most recent Spa win pre-dates Weerts’ driving career, meaning he is still chasing his first 24 Hours of Spa victory after facing the brunt of the team’s recent misfortune at the event.
A run of three retirements in four years from 2020 to 2023 was punctuated by an agonising defeat in 2021, when co-driver Dries Vanthoor was famously overtaken by Alessandro Pier Guidi in the closing minutes.
This spell was then followed by a third-place finish in 2024, whilst last year was another missed opportunity, with Weerts’ #32 BMW M4 GT3 Evo putting together the required clean run, but lacking the pace to challenge for victory and ending up seventh.
These experiences, with targets elsewhere achieved, have left SRO’s blue-riband event at the forefront of Weerts’ objectives for 2026.
“It’s Spa by far,” he told DSC, when asked pre-season about the one event he was looking forward to the most this year.
“It’s a race I’ve been chasing since 2020, the first time I was in the hunt for a very good result there. Then in 2021 we came up really close, and in 2024 we finished third.
“So always very close to the victory, but when you hit the bar in football, it’s not a goal, right? You have to put it in, and it’s pretty much the same here. Nobody cares if you finish second or third, it’s about winning the race, so this is clearly the target.
“Also, if you win Spa, you are in a very good position for the Endurance championship, which is the championship I would also really like to win, as it’s only one I’m missing in the SRO series.”
For the past two seasons, Weerts has been racing the full season alongside Kelvin van der Linde, after his long-time co-driver Dries Vanthoor switched focus to BMW’s M Hybrid V8 LMDh programme.
The pairing, which had raced together in the Endurance Cup previously, found success immediately upon their reunification, winning the Endurance season opener at Circuit Paul Ricard and going on to triumph in a dramatic Sprint Cup title fight.
“We lost sight of each other in a way, for a few years, and then last year, when we got back together, it felt like we never really left each other,” Weerts reflected.
“I would say Kelvin became a more complete driver. I believe he has always had this raw speed that very few guys have out there, but with time, he also learned how to use it in a smarter way, and working with him helps me a lot and and also made me a better driver.”
Weerts believes that working alongside van der Linde once again has helped him develop further as a driver, with the South African helping to add more to his arsenal.
“I had Dries next to me for five years, and Dries is also one of the most talented guys out there, including all sort of categories in racing,” he continued.
“I learned a lot from him, but I believe that at that point, it was also the right thing for me to continue to grow as a driver to have somebody else next to me. Dries had to focus more on LMDh, so that’s how it came about, but ultimately, I think it was a great thing to happen, because I really learned a lot last year with Kelvin next to me, and I feel like a more complete driver compared to the past.”
For 2026, Weerts and van der Linde have a new co-driver in the Endurance Cup, Jordan Pepper. The South African, who won last year’s 24 Hours of Spa with Lamborghini, switched to BMW over the off-season and therefore has transitioned from chief rival to an integral part of the #32 crew.
“Jordan hopefully will be our lucky charm after his win last year,” Weerts said.
“I’m very happy to have him with us. I prefer to have him in the car than fighting him on the track.
“I’ve known Jordan for quite a long time. He’s, first of all, a very nice guy, and what he does on track also speaks for itself. I think we have a great trio, we all work really well together, and I believe they are probably the two best drivers out there, so I’m really happy to share the car with them.”
Sadly for Weerts, on the basis of qualifying, Team WRT might once again be fighting the uphill battle of racing the 24 Hours of Spa without the ultimate pace of some of its rivals.
Pepper initially placed the #32 BMW 18th on the grid in Superpole, best of the BMWs, with post-race penalties bolstering this to 15th on the grid, but the South African readily admitted that “they’re not in the same league” as the opposition currently.
This means that the Belgian squad might need to rely on some of its much-envied strategic and operational excellence in order to feature on the podium come Sunday afternoon, traits which have proven the cornerstone of Weerts’ unmatched Sprint Cup success.
“I love that championship,” Weerts declared.
“I believe that one of the main reasons why we are so good is thanks to the team, because in Sprint a big part of the race is actually pit stops, and we clearly have the best guys in the pit stops.
“They are always there, always giving their all, and when we have a bit of a lesser qualifying or are struggling in a race, they always put us back in the mix. That’s a big part of the success.
“I also like all the tracks that we are driving on. Beautiful venues like Brands Hatch and Magny-Cours. I love Misano and Zandvoort, so that’s already four out of the five racetracks we go to. So that’s not too bad, and I’m pretty sure that also must play a part in it.”
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP
