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,” said 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.