GT
Vanthoor, Weerts join BMW as 2023 works drivers
Former Audi stalwarts Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts have joined WRT in making the switch to BMW as the German brand's latest works drivers for 2023.
Filip Cleeren
Published: Dec 8, 2022, 5:30 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Belgians Vanthoor and Weerts formed a successful duo at Audi team WRT in the GT World Challenge Europe, taking three consecutive Sprint Cup titles in the Audi R8 LMS as well as an overall title in 2021.
Along with the Vincent Vosse-led team, the pair have moved to BMW for 2023, defending the Bavarian brand's colours in the GT World Challenge Europe and Intercontinental GT Challenge with the BMW M4 GT3.
Vanthoor and Weerts are the latest additions to a 20-strong works roster that includes fellow newcomer Rene Rast and BMW returnee Maxime Martin.
“We have improved what was already a very strong squad of works drivers with Rene Rast, Maxime Martin, Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts," says Andreas Roos, Head of BMW M Motorsport.
"On the team side, we are continuing our collaborations, which have grown over many years, including with BMW M Team RLL, BMW M Team RMG and ROWE Racing.
"Of course, we also plan to continue with our DTM champion team Schubert Motorsport, although we weren’t able to fix anything yet due to the current DTM situation.
"We also welcome BMW M Team WRT as a new BMW M Motorsport team. We are facing some exciting sporting challenges in 2023 and the years to come, for which we need the best teams and drivers."
Race winner #32 Team WRT Audi R8 LMS evo II GT: Charles Weerts, Dries Vanthoor
Photo by: SRO
Vanthoor and Weerts are also expected to represent BMW in the Nurburgring 24 Hours, a race which the youngest of the two Vanthoor brothers has already won twice.
BMW's biggest challenge in 2023 is the debut of its new LMP2-based BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh car, which will enter competition in next month's Daytona 24 Hours.
BMW M Team RLL will field two new hybrid prototypes in IMSA's rebranded GTP class, driven by Connor De Phillippi, Nick Yelloly, Philipp Eng and Augusto Farfus.
Sheldon van der Linde and Marco Wittmann join the ranks at the endurance rounds at Daytona and Sebring, with IndyCar star Colton Herta also making an appearance at Daytona.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Top GT3 squad ASP working on Le Mans entry for 2024
Next article WRT wins on BMW debut in Dubai 24 Hours, Rossi claims podium
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Filip Cleeren
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 d
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
Latest news
The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 14 min
The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season
‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 49 min
‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes
BMW "proud of what we achieved" after securing runner-up in 2026 WEC
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
2 h
BMW "proud of what we achieved" after securing runner-up in 2026 WEC
The numbers that reveal how sprint races have turned the MotoGP title fight upside down
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
4 h
The numbers that reveal how sprint races have turned the MotoGP title fight upside down
Feature
Discover prime content
Did Audi ‘give up’ on GT3 too soon?
GT
By James Newbold
Did Audi ‘give up’ on GT3 too soon?
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe