The ROWE Racing team based in St. Ingbert, Saarland – Germany is entering their ninth year of partnership with BMW M Motorsport and have announced that they will return to the SRO GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup championship in 2024 with a pair of M4 GT3s, as well as the Nürburgring 24 Hour race.
The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup championship will feature works drivers in both cars. Philipp Eng, Marco Wittmann and Nick Yelloly will share a car in the series, while a second car will be shared by Dan Harper, Max Hesse, and Augusto Farfus. Neil Verhagen drove with Harper and Hesse in the series last year, but will be busy in the US this year driving with ST Racing in GT World Challenge America and with Paul Miller Racing in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races.
For the 24 Hours at the Nürburgring race, ROWE will have seven works drivers competing in two M4 GT3s, with Marco Wittmann, Augusto Farfus, Sheldon van der Linde, Maxime Martin, Dries Vanthoor, Robin Frijns, and Raffaele Marciello all lined up to drive. Frijns, who is new to BMW for 2024, previously won the ‘Ring 24 Hour race in 2022 along with Dries Vanthoor in an Audi. Marciello is also new to BMW for 2024 and has experience racing with Mercedes at the ‘Ring but has yet to win.
The trio of Philipp Eng (left), Marco Wittmann (center) and Nick Yelloly will defend their 2023 win at Spa in 2024.
The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup championship will feature five races, with the highlight being the Spa 24 Hour race in Belgium on the weekend of May 21st-22nd, which ROWE won last year. In addition to Spa, the series will compete at Circuit Paul Ricard in France (April 5th-7th), the Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit (July 26th-28th), Monza in Italy (September 20th-22nd), and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia (November 21st-23rd).
Eng and Yelloly will not be able to drive in the Monza round, as they will be competing with BMW M Team RLL in the IMSA race at Indianapolis, which is on the same weekend. ROWE has yet to announce which drivers will replace them. The 24 Hours at the Nürburgring takes place on June 1st-2nd. “I am pleased that our partnership with BMW M Motorsport is now entering its ninth year,” said ROWE Racing Team Principal Hans-Peter Naundorf. “Having the winning trio from last year allows us to embark on the title defense at Spa, providing a perfect foundation to once again compete for victory. Additionally, two of the three driver positions remain unchanged in the sister car, and Augusto Farfus brings additional qualities with his driving skill, vast experience, and exemplary team spirit. This year, we will have seven BMW M works drivers on the Nordschleife. For the first time, Robin Frijns and Raffaele Marciello will compete for ROWE Racing in the 24h Nürburgring, whom we have known as formidable opponents. Our entire team looks forward to collaborating with two such successful and fast drivers, and we warmly welcome them to the ROWE Racing family.” —David Haueter
[Photos courtesy BMW]
