The inaugural event of the Fanatec GT World, held at Paul-Ricard, South of France, set the stage for a thrilling European season. The race kicked off positively, with all three Team WRT cars battling at the forefront of their category. Maxime Martin in car #46 and Charles Weerts in car #32 executed brilliant maneuvers from the start, securing top 5 positions overall, and closing on the leaders. However, a regrettable collision from behind caused a puncture for car #32, forcing Weerts to retire after just 35 minutes. After losing positions in the pit lane due to heavy traffic, car #46 and Raffaele Marciello reclaimed P4 in style, securing valuable points for the championship. Car #30’s run by WRT under the ‘OQ by Oman Racing’ name stayed in contention for a class podium finish, until a 30-second time penalty for track limit violations dampened their prospects.
Alongside the on-track action, the Belgian team unveiled its new hospitality unit, warmly welcoming numerous guests, including Skechers’ global COO and Executive Vice-President, David Weinberg, French International football player, Jonathan Clauss, and French influencer Raul Marchisio.
FIGURES
Number of cars on the grid: 55 (20 in Pro, 6 in Gold, 9 in Silver, 20 in Bronze)
Nine brands
Number of WRT cars: 3 (2 Pro, 1 Bronze)
85 laps in total
FACTS
Qualifying:
Car #30: P6 in Bronze, P29 overall
Car #32: P7 in Pro and overall
Car #46: P6 in Pro and overall
Starting drivers:
#30: Ahmad Al Harthy
#32: Charles Weerts
#46: Maxime Martin
Race – 1st hour:
Two Safety Cars within the first 20 minutes
#46 and #32 P4 and P5 respectively after few laps
Contact from behind for #32 causing a puncture and a DNF
Third Safety Car
#30 driver change to De Haan
#46 driver change to Rossi
#46 loses positions during pitstop due to traffic in pitlane
End of 1st hour: #46 in P4, #30 in P6 (class), #32 DNF
Race – 2nd hour:
Fourth Safety Car
#30 – 30s time penalty for Track Limits
#46 driver change to Marciello
#30 driver change to Klingmann
End of 2nd hour: #46 in P9, #30 in P7, #32 DNF
Race – 3rd hour:
#46 Marciello gets P3 in S3 of final lap
End of 3rd hour: #46 in P4, #30 in P6 (class), #32 DNF
Race results:
1. Farfus – Harper – Hesse (BMW M4 GT3), 85 laps
2. Caldarelli – Cairoli – Bortolotti (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo 2), + 13.519
3. Stolz – Schiller – Gounon (Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo), + 18.696
4. Marciello – Martin – Rossi (BMW M4 GT3), + 29.113
5. Andlauer – Niederhauser – Müller (Porsche 911 GT3 R), + 29.325
27. (P6 Bronze) Al Harthy – De Haan – Klingmann (BMW M4 GT3), + 1 lap
DNF van der Linde – Vanthoor – Weerts (BMW M4 GT3), + 69 laps
QUOTES
Vincent VOSSE, Team Principal Team WRT: « Finishing the weekend in P4 with car #46 is a good achievement. It is of course disappointing for car #32 and car #30. All drivers have done great moves and stints. Without the penalty due to the track limits, car #30 would have achieved a much better result. Now all drivers will learn from it. I want to congratulate Rowe Racing for winning the race. I’m happy for them, they did a very great job here. On our side, we will get stronger for the next race! »
Jens KLINGMANN – #30 BMW M4 GT3: « It was great to be back with the team and the WRT family. We knew that qualifying was not our strength, but we knew we had a great car for the three-hour race so we were not worried. It looked quite promising for a while but unfortunately we had a 30-sec time penalty due to track limits. To take the positive, we would have been able to be on the podium regarding our own performance and that is important. This is only the first round of the season. We will get all together and be ready for the 24 Hours of Spa where the goal is to get at least the podium ».
Valentino ROSSI – #46 BMW M4 GT3: « At the end, we finish P4 and we did a good race considering that we missed pace practice. Lello made a great end of the race recovery . It is a shame for the podium. We are always there but we needed a bit more. The next race will be the Spa 24 Hours and it is the most important race of the championship. It is our target. We will work hard to be on the podium ».
Charles WEERTS – #32 BMW M4 GT3: « I had a good start moving up to P5 passing two cars together with Max in the #46 car, which was nice. Then there was the aggressive Ferrari that hit me twice in one lap. Unfortunately, the second hit resulted in a puncture which basically ended our race. That’s a shame as we had a very competitive car and could have achieved a good result ».
FIA World Endurance Championship Round 2, Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, April 19th – 21th