24h Spa-Francorchamps: Philipp Eng, Marco Wittmann and Nick Yelloly triumph for ROWE Racing in the BMW M4 GT3.

03-07-2023 10:25 -

In the early stages of the 24-hour race, the BMW M4 GT3 teams initially had to work their way through the field after missing out on Super Pole in qualifying, which was affected by the onset of heavy rain. The #32 BMW M4 GT3 from BMW M Team WRT and the #998 initially managed to catch up BMW M4 GT3 by ROWE Racing best. The two vehicles quickly fought for the top positions, while the later winning vehicle temporarily fell far behind due to an unfortunate pit stop and a problem with the fuel system. Only in the evening did the impressive catch-up race of the number 98 start, which put itself at the front of the field for the first time during the night. This position was jeopardized by a 30-second time penalty for exceeding the track limits too many times, but in the end Eng, Wittmann and Yelloly regained first place.

The #46 BMW M4 GT3 fielded by BMW M Team WRT and driven by Augusto Farfus (BRA), Maxime Martin (BEL) and Valentino Rossi (ITA) finished the race in sixth place . They also showed great speed, but were repeatedly thrown back by time penalties. The #30 BMW M4 GT3 of the WRT team with Niklas Krütten (GER), Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer (FRA) and Calan Williams (AUS) took second place in the Gold Cup and thus made it onto the podium. The #31 BMW M4 GT3 with Adam Carroll and Lewis Proctor (both GBR) at the wheel finished in 25th place. In the twelfth hour of the race, there was an unfortunate accident between Neil Verhagen (USA) in the #998 BMW M4 GT3 fielded by ROWE Racing and Charles Weerts (BEL) at #32 BMW M4 GT3 from BMW M Team WRT. Both vehicles were driving back-to-back in the battle for the top positions when race control initiated an ambiguous full course yellow procedure. This led to a chain of unfortunate circumstances and both drivers received different information about the exact point in time when the yellow phase began. Weerts reduced his speed, Verhagen was taken by surprise and was no longer able to avoid colliding with the rear of the WRT car. Both vehicles were badly damaged, but fortunately the drivers were not injured. The accident was followed by a yellow phase of around two hours due to repair work on the crash barriers. The #35 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 also retired early.