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The BMW M4 GT3 EVO proved its credentials as a force across the entire grid at the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup season opener, collecting podium finishes in all four classes during the gruelling six-hour race at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet. Reigning overall champions Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts, joined by Jordan Pepper in the #32 car, ran inside the top five for the bulk of the race and brought the machine home in fourth overall, banking third in the Pro Cup and a haul of valuable championship points for the long campaign ahead.
ROWE Racing’s #98 entry delivered one of the standout drives of the day. Jake Dennis, Augusto Farfus and Raffaele Marciello launched from 22nd on the grid and carved their way through the field with relentless overtaking to finish sixth overall, a recovery drive that Farfus likened to a podium in its own right. The #46 car of Dan Harper, Max Hesse and Valentino Rossi showed competitive pace for large stretches but saw its race compromised by a 30-second time penalty for ignoring blue flags, dropping the crew to twelfth and a lap down with no route back into the top ten.
Fresh talent also left its mark on the weekend. BMW M Motorsport newcomer Tim Tramnitz turned heads on his GT race debut, posting strong lap times across his opening two stints in the #998 BMW M4 GT3 EVO wearing ROWE Racing’s iconic GEN M livery. Alongside experienced hands Jens Klingmann and Ugo de Wilde, the young German helped steer the car to third in the Gold Cup, with his first taste of racing into the night proving a baptism of fire he handled with composure well beyond his years.
The Silver and Bronze Cups reinforced the depth of BMW machinery throughout the field. Team WRT’s #30 entry, piloted by Amaury Cordeel, Matisse Lismont and Ignacio Montenegro, battled for the Silver Cup win right down to the final lap before crossing the line in a hard-fought second place. In the Bronze Cup, BMW M works driver Dries Vanthoor partnered James Kellett and Darren Leung in the #991 car from Paradine Competition, combining consistency and racecraft to secure third in class and round off a productive day for the entire BMW camp.
With points on the board in every category and a season that stretches all the way to the autumn, the BMW M4 GT3 EVO teams leave Le Castellet with plenty of fuel for optimism. Team Principal Vincent Vosse summed up the collective mindset, acknowledging the team extracted the maximum from the weekend while promising to return stronger. Van der Linde pointed to the length of the championship as reason for confidence, and all eyes now turn to Monza, where the pack will look to shift up a gear and challenge for the outright victory that narrowly eluded them in the south of France.
