A busy weekend for Walkenhorst Motorsport’s Aston Martin, BMW and Hyundai due to the double start of the season.

It’s finally starting! The 2024 season of Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup it starts next weekend at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet in the south of France. 55 GT3 cars are on the entry list for the world’s most important GT racing series. Walkenhorst Motorsport brings three of their new Aston Martin Vantage GT3s. The winter months were a time of major restructuring for the team from Melle. The team teamed up with the British brand Aston Martin to participate with the GT3 version of the brand. In recent weeks, WMS has completed an extensive testing program to gain as much experience as possible with the car, including test work on the car. Circuit Paul Ricard.

The line-up is led by three Aston Martin factory drivers David Pittard, Henrique Chaves and Ross Gunn, who will share the #34 car. Three acres of Aston Martin will battle for overall victory in the Pro class. Romain Leroux, Lorcan Hanafin and Maxime Robin (#35, Silver Cup) and Tim Creswick, Mex Jansen and Ben Green (#36, Bronze Cup) complete the line-up of the Lower Saxony team in the top class SRO race series.

“We have had a great winter. The switch to Aston Martin was part of the tour for the whole team, because we had to get used to a completely new car. In recent weeks we have been able to gain valuable experience with the Vantage through an extensive test program! We are eager to see where will we place in the Fanatec GT Europe field But our goal is clear, we want to fight for the top positions in all three classes!” says Niclas Königbauer, Managing Director of Walkenhorst Motorsport.

The three-hour race at the former Formula 1 circuit in the south of France will start on Sunday at 3am. Race day begins with a three-part qualifying session. On Friday and Saturday, participants will have more training opportunities on the 5.771 km circuit. Viewers can watch the race (and all episodes from Saturday) live and in full on the race series’ YouTube channel.

At the same time, Walkenhorst Motorsport is also participating in two races ADAC Nürburgring Endurance Series on Saturday and Sunday. In the SP10 class the team will present a BMW M4 GT4, while in the VT2 class the FWD Hyundai i30 N will be on the grid.

Hyundai is driven by three legendary drivers. Former Formula 1 driver and last year’s DTM race winner Jack Aitken will drive the production car alongside Monaco’s Micah Stanley. The trio of drivers is completed by Joseph Warhurst, last year’s champion in the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB. The goal of the three drivers is clear: to get ‘permission’ so that they can work on the Nordschleife with more powerful cars. At the wheel of the BMW M4 GT4 are two experienced drivers, Tobias Wahl and Aris Balanian. While Balanian has been part of the team for some time, Wahl will compete for Walkenhorst Motorsport for the first time since 2020.

“It will be a challenging weekend for us, because we are participating in a two-race series,” said CEO Jörg Breuer. “But we are very happy to finally be racing on the Nordschleife again, after extensive testing before Easter. The Nürburgring-Nordschleife is home to Walkenhorst Motorsport.”

The two four-hour races start at 12:00 on Saturday and Sunday. Qualifying usually starts at 8:30 am on both days. Two categories of the ADAC Nürburgring Endurance Series can also be followed through YouTube.

Photo: Swoosh Motorsport Communications

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