The GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup series held the penultimate race weekend of their season on the weekend of August 22-25, 2024, at the Magny Cours circuit in France. BMW drivers came away from those races with the points lead going into the final two races, but the battle for the championship couldn’t be much closer with a rival Mercedes team.
We’ve seen all season that the M4 GT3 typically races better than it qualifies, and this was certainly the case at Magny Cours. The #32 BMW M Team WRT M4 GT3 of Charles Weerts and Dries Vanthoor that’s entered in the Pro Cup class (shown above) only qualified in sixth, but Vanthoor moved into second place within a few laps and into the lead with 38 minutes left in the race. They ended up in second after pit stops when Weerts took over and finished the race in that position but were awarded the win when the Porsche that initially won was given a post-race penalty.
The #30 Team WRT car that competes in the Silver Cup class with drivers Calan Williams and San de Haan finished 5th in class, while the #991 Century Motorsport M4 GT3 entry of Dan Harper and Darren Leung finished third in the Bronze Cup class after starting at the front and running second overall early in the race with works driver Harper at the wheel. Leung finished first in class at the end of the race, but the car was given a ten-second time penalty for a previous incident where Harper hit a curb and ran into the second place Ferrari, forcing it off the track.
Calan Williams and Sam de Haan lead the Silver Cup points after Magny Cours.
Race two went much the same way as race one, with the #32 M4 GT3 starting in eighth but moving up to second by the end of the race. There was no penalty for the winning car this time, which happened to be the #48 Mercedes of Lucas Auer and Marco Engel, the closest rival to the BMW team for the championship. “A win and a second place – that was a good weekend for us,” said Dries Vanthoor. “Unfortunately, our competitors for the title also had a strong weekend, and so we will carry the fight to the Barcelona finale. It’s going to be very exciting, but we are doing everything we can to defend our narrow lead there.”
The #30 M4 GT3 had a better race two than race one, with Calan Williams and Sam de Haan finishing third in the Silver Cup class, while the #991 M4 GT3 of Dan Harper and Darren Leung finished 8th in the Bronze Cup class.
Dan Harper and Darren Leung lead the Bronze Cup class points going into the finale.
Going into the GT World Challenge Sprint Cup final races at Barcelona in mid-October, Charles Weerts, and Dries Vanthoor have a slim two-point lead over Mercedes drivers Lucas Auer and Maro Engel in the Pro Cup standings. Calan Williams and Sam de Haan have led the Silver Cup class for most of the year and are in first place going into the final, just 21 points ahead of Mercedes drivers Cesar Gazeau and Aurélien Panis. In the Bronze Cup class, Dan Harper and Darren Leung are also in first place, with a slim 9.5-point lead over Lamborghini drivers Rob Collard and Sandy Mitchell. —David Haueter
[Photos courtesy SRO]
Tags: GT World Challenge