ROWE Racing takes home win at Green Hell

Text: Rick Kiewiet

Images: SRO ROWE Racing is back at the top step of the podium in the Endurance Cup with victory at the Nürburgring, as a late Full Course Yellow reshuffled the order and allowed Augusto Farfus, Jesse Krohn and Raffaele Marciello to convert pole into a first triumph of the season. It marked BMW’s first-ever win on home soil in GT World Challenge Europe and the team’s first since Paul Ricard last year, extending a successful summer at the Ring after the same trio had also conquered the Nürburgring 24 Hours in June.

Pole for ROWE after penalty for WRT

The weekend began with the #98 BMW M4 GT3 Evo securing pole position after the sister #32 WRT entry was hit with a five-place grid penalty. Charles Weerts was adjudged at fault in an incident that sent Jules Gounon’s Mercedes-AMG into the barriers during Q2, dropping WRT down the order and handing Marciello a record-equalling sixth Endurance Cup pole. Farfus and Krohn became first-time pole sitters in the series, with the #51 AF Corse Ferrari lining up alongside on the front row, followed by the #58 Garage 59 McLaren, the #7 Comtoyou Aston Martin and the #22 Schumacher CLRT Porsche.

Comtoyou leads, but strategy turns the race

From the start Farfus kept the #98 BMW ahead, but Comtoyou’s Aston Martin immediately established itself as the main challenger. A clever undercut at the first round of stops allowed Mattia Drudi to leapfrog Krohn into Turn 3, with the Belgian squad seemingly on course for its first win since Spa 2024. Drudi and later Nicki Thiim managed the middle stint with the BMW close behind, the gap fluctuating but never exceeding a few seconds.

The race turned decisively with just under an hour to go. Contact between the Tresor Attempto Audi and Kessel Racing Ferrari at the Schumacher S left the latter stranded, triggering a Full Course Yellow right as the final pit window opened. The Aston Martin, along with several other frontrunners including AF Corse, CLRT and WRT, had already stopped under green, leaving them exposed. Marciello and the #98 crew were among those who gained the maximum advantage by pitting during the neutralisation, vaulting into the lead and emerging with a comfortable cushion once the field was released.

Marciello controls the restart

From there Marciello was unchallenged, pulling clear of Lucas Auer in the #48 Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER entry and bringing ROWE to victory by over four seconds. Auer, alongside Maro Engel and Matteo Cairoli, extended his crew’s championship lead with second place, while the #96 Rutronik Porsche of Sven Müller, Alessio Picariello and Patric Niederhauser completed the podium. The #64 HRT Ford Mustang crossed the line in third after a storming run from 17th on the grid, but a penalty for a Full Course Yellow infringement relegated it to fifth, promoting the #22 CLRT Porsche to fourth.

Behind them, the #7 Comtoyou Aston Martin slipped to sixth after losing out in the final shuffle, while Garage 59’s McLaren finished seventh. The #63 Grasser Lamborghini initially placed sixth on the road, but a penalty dropped it to tenth before being rescinded post-race, restoring Pepper, Bortolotti and Mapelli to fifth position. For AF Corse the weekend ended in frustration: the #51 Ferrari was running fourth when a power steering failure forced Alessandro Pier Guidi to pit with only two minutes to go.

It was a costly afternoon for Team WRT. Starting from sixth after the penalty, the #32 BMW slipped backwards throughout and ultimately finished outside of the points in 11th, dealing a serious blow to the title hopes of Weerts, Van der Linde and De Wilde. The Mercedes-AMG trio of Auer, Engel and Cairoli now lead by 18 points over their rivals, with only the #96 Porsche still in mathematical contention heading into the Barcelona finale.

Drama across the classes

In the Gold Cup, Verstappen.com Racing thought they had clinched the Endurance drivers’ and teams’ titles with victory for Chris Lulham, Thierry Vermeulen and Harry King, only to be demoted to third after a post-race penalty for contact with the #59 McLaren. That handed the win to the #777 AlManar Racing by WRT BMW of Al Faisal Al Zubair, Ben Tuck and Jens Klingmann, delaying the title fight to Barcelona. CSA Racing’s McLaren inherited second, while the Aston Martin was forced to settle for the final step of the podium.

Silver Cup honours went to the #10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG after a tense late fight with the #188 Garage 59 McLaren. The McLaren finished ahead on the road but was penalised for a Full Course Yellow infringement, giving victory to Cabirou, Panis and Gazeau. Century Motorsport’s BMW secured third and strengthened its championship lead.

Bronze Cup victory went to 2 Seas Motorsport, as Charles Dawson, Tom Lebbon and Ben Barnicoat steered the #222 Mercedes-AMG to the class win. The caution periods heavily disrupted the order, leaving only three cars on the lead lap in class. Barnicoat pounced late, passing the Lionspeed Porsche to secure victory, with UNX Racing completing the podium on its Endurance Cup debut.

With its home victory, BMW finally has a Nürburgring Endurance Cup triumph to its name. For ROWE Racing and its trio of Farfus, Krohn and Marciello, it was the perfect response after a challenging mid-season, and a result that throws the championship battle wide open ahead of the final race in Barcelona in October.