The third race weekend of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup could hardly have gone better for the BMW M Motorsport teams. Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts climbed onto the podium twice at the Hockenheimring in the BMW M Team WRT #32 BMW M4 GT3 and lead both the overall standings and the Sprint Cup of the GT World Challenge Europe. In the Silver Cup, Calan Williams and Sam De Haan celebrated a class win and a second place. Dan Harper and Darren Leung triumphed twice in the Bronze Cup.
Vanthoor and Weerts showed an impressive comeback in Saturday's race after a disappointing qualifying, moving up from 19th place to second. On Sunday, Vanthoor placed the #32 BMW M4 GT3 third on the grid, and, although the car's speed was not quite as good as the day before in hot temperatures, the WRT duo managed to fight for another second place. Thanks to these strong results, Vanthoor and Weerts lead both the overall GT World Challenge Europe standings, which include both endurance and sprint races, as well as the sprint classification. In both team classifications, WRT is at the top.
The Belgian team also had plenty of reasons to celebrate in the Silver Cup. Williams and De Haan won the Sunday race in Hockenheim in their class in the #30 BMW M4 GT3 and finished second on Saturday. At the same time, they took excellent fifth places in the overall classifications, further extending their already clear lead for the drivers and team in the Sprint Cup standings. In the Bronze Cup, Harper and Leung shone with two class wins in the Century Motorsport Team #991 BMW M4 GT3. They also lead the Sprint Cup drivers' standings in their class, as does Century Motorsport in the team standings.
That was a very positive weekend. A double podium in both classes, and on top of that a victory for Calan Williams and Sam De Haan – that's a great success. We regained the lead in the overall Sprint Cup standings with Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts on Sunday, which, of course, makes us happy.
Driver statements.
Dan Harper (#991 BMW M4 GT3, Century Motorsport): “A great job by the entire team with the two class wins this weekend. It's always incredibly fun to drive with Darren and Century Motorsport. On Saturday I was able to make it easy for Darren with my first stint to bring home first place, and on Sunday he did the same for me. Perfect teamwork!”
Dries Vanthoor (#32 BMW M4 GT3, BMW M Team WRT): “It was a very good weekend for us – better than we expected. We worked well as a team and made the right adjustments over the weekend. Going into the summer leading the Sprint Cup standings gives us a good feeling. But afterwards, we have to keep pushing just as hard.”
Charles Weerts (#32 BMW M4 GT3, BMW M Team WRT): “After the problems we faced in the first qualifying, we can be very satisfied with the outcome of the weekend and the lead in the overall standings. In Saturday's race I had a lot of fun when I was able to make up 13 positions during my stint. On Sunday we were a bit more on the defensive in terms of speed, but we defended our second place well. Many thanks to the team and to Dries for a great weekend."