Double season start for Walkenhorst Motorsport

It’s finally starting! The 2024 season of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup kicks off at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, France. 55 GT3 cars are on the entry list for the world’s most important GT racing series. Walkenhorst Motorsport will field three of the brand-new Aston Martin Vantage GT3s.

The winter months were a time of major reorganisation for the team from Melle. The team joined the GT3 division of the British brand. In recent weeks, WMS has completed an intensive test programme to gain as much experience as possible with the car, including the Circuit Paul Ricard.

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

“We’ve had an intensive winter. The switch to Aston Martin was a major effort for the entire team, as we had to get used to a completely new car. In recent weeks, we have been able to gain important experience with the Vantage through an intensive test programme! We are excited to see where we will be in the Fanatec GT Europe field. But our objective is clear: we want to fight for top positions in all three classes,” says Niclas Königbauer, Managing Director of Walkenhorst Motorsport.

The three-hour race on the former Formula 1 circuit in the south of France starts on Sunday at 15:00. The race day will be preceded by a three-part qualifying session. On Friday and Saturday, the participants will have further training opportunities on the 5.771-kilometre circuit. Spectators can follow the race (and all sessions from Saturday) live and in full length on the racing series’ YouTube channel.

Walkenhorst Motorsport will also be taking part in the two races of the ADAC Nürburgring Endurance Series on Saturday and Sunday. The team will field a BMW M4 GT4 in the SP10 class, while a Hyundai i30 N will compete in the VT2 FWD class.

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

“It will be a challenging weekend for us, as we are competing in two racing series,” says Managing Director Jörg Breuer. “But we are very pleased to finally be racing on the Nordschleife again, having also completed intensive test drives there before Easter. The Nürburgring-Nordschleife is the motorsport home of Walkenhorst Motorsport!”

The two four-hour races will start at 12:00 noon on Saturday and Sunday. Qualifying traditionally starts at 8.30 am on both days. Both races of the ADAC Nürburgring Endurance Series can also be followed on YouTube.