British GT Championship: Team WRT Claims Victory in Season-Opening Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Race at Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch, UK – In a thrilling start to the British GT Championship season, Team WRT’s #32 BMW M4 GT3 driven by Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts emerged victorious in the opening Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, Fanatec Sprint race at the iconic Brands Hatch circuit.
The race was not without its drama, as the #9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo of Max Götz and Jules Gounon was forced to withdraw before the start due to an engine issue reported by Götz during the formation lap.
At the start, pole-sitter Ben Green in the #14 Emil Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 managed to retain the lead, fending off a challenge from Mattia Drudi in the #7 Cometoyou Racing Aston Martin GT3. However, Dries Vanthoor in the #32 BMW soon made his way past Drudi and set his sights on catching the leading Ferrari.
“After a hard-fought battle, Vanthoor eventually took the lead from Green during the pit stop phase, with Charles Weerts emerging in front of Konsta Lappalainen in the #14 Ferrari.”
Despite late-race safety car periods and a close challenge from Lappalainen, Weerts was able to hold on to claim victory for Team WRT. The podium was rounded out by the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes of Lucas Auer and Maro Engel, while the #159 Garage 59 McLaren 720s GT3 of Benjamin Goethe finished fourth after a strong recovery drive.
In the Silver class, the #10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes of Aurelien Panis and Cesar Gazeau took the victory, finishing fifth overall. The Gold Cup winners were Max Hofer and Luca Engstler in the #6 LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler by One Group Audi R8, finishing sixth overall.
The Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, Fanatec Sprint series continues next at Nürburgring, where the British GT Championship teams will be looking to build on this exciting start to the season.
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