TEAM WRT CROWNED 2024 FANATEC GT OVERALL TEAMS’ CHAMPIONS AT JEDDAH FINALE

TEAM WRT CROWNED 2024 FANATEC GT OVERALL TEAMS’ CHAMPIONS AT JEDDAH FINALE

30/11/2024

The 6 Hours of Jeddah was a thrilling, high-stakes finale to the 2024 Fanatec GT World Challenge Endurance Cup, with Team WRT showcasing exceptional strategy and performance, despite missing out on two titles in the final moments of the race due to a safety car call, making it a bittersweet end to what had been a stellar race. Nonetheless, the team concluded the season on a high note with two top five finishes in the Pro category, car #32 in fourth and the sister car #46 fifth, along with another podium in the Bronze Cup for car #30.

The weekend began with difficulties for the team, but Team WRT and their trio of BMW M4 GT3s turned things around on race day. The #46 and #30 cars were at the heart of the action, making masterful calls on strategy. Early in the race, both cars benefited from an early pit stop under the first Full Course Yellow (FCY), which proved pivotal. The #46 car, driven by Maxime Martin, was already showing strong pace, moving up from P23 to P11 in the first 50 minutes of the race. Thanks to a stellar stint from Martin and the brilliant call from the engineers, the car then jumped to the lead with Valentino Rossi at the wheel, putting Team WRT in a strong position. Meanwhile, car #30 also made significant gains and took the lead of the Bronze cup, coming from P35 at the start, P8 in class.

The final stages of the race were nothing short of dramatic. With #32 in third place overall, #46 in fourth, and #30 second in class, the race intensified. Indeed, with just 40 minutes remaining, a late safety car completely upended the race order. Competitors not in contention for podium anymore but that still needed to refuel gained significant time by pitting under safety car conditions, while cars #32 and #46, which had just completed their final stops, were left at a disadvantage. Further disaster struck for the #32 car when debris on track struck its radiator, forcing Dries Vanthoor to slow down, as the field bunched up following the final safety car period. Despite their best efforts, the late safety car and the debris issue ended up costing Team WRT a likely podium finish and two championship titles.

For car #30, entered under the OQ by Oman Racing banner, a 30-second time penalty for exceeding track limits did not overshadow the strong performances of Ahmad Al Harthy, Sam de Haan and Jens Klingmann as the trio finished second in class.

Despite the bittersweet ending in Jeddah, Team WRT leaves the season finale with the combined Overall Team Championship for Sprint and Endurance – a testament to their consistency and strength throughout the year. Jeddah marked the final race of 2024 for Team WRT, with the 2025 season set to begin soon. Exciting announcements about the team’s programs and driver line-up for next year are coming shortly.

QUOTES:

Vincent VOSSE, Team Principal Team WRT: “As we say, a hard one to swallow. The last 20 minutes were a bit crazy. We were fighting for P2, giving us the Overall Drivers and Endurance Teams championships, on top of the Overall Teams’ title. At the end, due to debris we got in the radiator, we had to slow down and make sure the debris was out. We lost three positions, and two titles. Anyway, we finish second in the Overall Drivers championship, 2.5 points behind Maro Engel and Lucas Auer. Congrats to them. In the end, we are still Overall (Sprint and Endurance) Teams champions, which is a great reward! It was a tough season but a good one. We had some ups and downs, but we will remember the exceptional win of car 30 in Monza. It was a special and incredible one with a 1-2 finish. This is what I will remember from the Endurance Championship!”

Charles WEERTS, driver #32: “First time in Jeddah for everybody here. Quite an eventful weekend. We were lacking a bit of pace during the different practice sessions and in qualifying. We made a good step for the race and in the end, we had a great car. It was nice to drive! We had good fights, and we had a shot at the podium. It’s a shame that we lost it in the last moments but that’s part of racing. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes not. Overall, we can say it was a good race where we showed again the potential of the BMW M4 and where we gained 20 positions. It’s a good way to finish the season even though I believe a podium would have been deserved.”

Valentino ROSSI, driver #46: “It was a very good race for us because we started from P23 and were able to arrive in the top five at the end and we were fighting for the podium until the last lap. I think that we worked very well this weekend, and we were able to improve. From the season in general, I expected more, especially as our lineup is great with Raffaele Marciello and Maxime Martin. I think that often we had a good speed, but we were a bit unlucky. We had good races, we won, we got some podiums. We were not able to achieve a podium in an endurance race, that was the target. We were a little bit unlucky on a lot of occasions. But in the end, it was a good season.”

Ahmad AL HARTHY, driver #30: “What a way to finish this 6-hour race! First time racing in Jeddah for this championship and with Oman being so close, it is a very proud moment. We had an amazing race in Monza and now we have another amazing podium. It’s really nice to finish on a high after a very long season. All of this is thanks to the incredible job of my teammates, my team and OQ by Oman Racing. Everything went super well. It’s a nice goodbye gift for my dear friend Sam who’s been with me for many years!”

Sam DE HAAN, driver #30: “This race was very good. I enjoyed it so much! Seeing where we started this weekend, it’s really nice. We struggled in qualifying, but we made really big steps for the race. The car came alive, and the race was very good too. We tried to avoid making mistakes as much as we could to have the cleanest race possible. Without the track limits penalty, we could have maybe fought for the win, but overall, it was a very good weekend. Looking back to the season, we had really good potential. We were unlucky in Spa, but we had two strong results: the amazing overall win in Monza and this beautiful podium in Jeddah. We can be very happy!”

Jens KLINGMANN, driver #30: “I am happy that we have brought the car home in P2. It is very difficult to drive on this track because the walls don’t leave margin for any errors. This was a huge challenge. We got a penalty for track limits which is very critical on this track, but we managed to come back from that. That was the key to this race. And we finished in the highest position we could aim for. I think that P1 was never in our reach. The winners were just too strong tonight, so we maximised our result. It was good fun, and we enjoyed being on the podium on such a difficult street circuit. In this season, we had ups and downs. The longer the season went, the better we got. The highlight was the overall victory at Monza that no one can take from us, and which was the first time in history. It’s been a good season in a highly contested GT3 championship, so I am still very proud. Thanks to the whole team for the support and effort. It has been a pure joy.”