WRT and BMW win season opener at Paul Ricard

Text: Rick Kiewiet

Images: SRO

In the opening round of the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, Team WRT kicked off its title campaign in style with a commanding win at Circuit Paul Ricard. With Charles Weerts, Ugo de Wilde and Kelvin van der Linde at the wheel of the #32 BMW M4 GT3 Evo, the Belgian squad secured BMW’s second consecutive victory at the six-hour race in Le Castellet — and their own first Endurance Cup win since Monza last year.

Starting from ninth, it was Weerts who put the car into contention with a storming second stint, before de Wilde — making his debut as a BMW factory driver — hunted down the leading Rutronik Racing Porsche. Van der Linde completed the job in the final two hours, muscling past Patric Niederhauser in the #96 Porsche and pulling clear under the lights to win by over four seconds.

It wasn’t just a return to form for WRT, but a landmark result for de Wilde in his first race with the Bavarian brand.

When the race went green, the pole-sitting #48 Mann-Filter Mercedes of Maro Engel controlled the pace early on, until a well-timed Full Course Yellow shook up the order during the first round of stops. That allowed Ayhancan Güven in the #22 Schumacher CLRT Porsche to leapfrog into the lead, before Dean MacDonald in the #58 Garage 59 McLaren came charging through to take over at the front.

The McLaren, fast in qualifying and fearsome in the opening stints, looked set to fight for Gold Cup victory — or more — until a terminal failure of the master switch just before the final round of stops brought an end to its run. That wasn’t the only blow for Garage 59, with all three of its entries hitting trouble in a bruising evening for the British team.

In the meantime, Rutronik’s #96 Porsche of Alessio Picariello had cycled into the lead and held a slender advantage through the middle hours. But with de Wilde closing the gap and van der Linde waiting in the wings, the fight at the front was far from settled.

Just under two hours from the end, van der Linde reeled in Niederhauser and made the decisive move out of Virage du Pont. Once in front, the South African never looked back, stretching his legs and managing the gap through the final stints as darkness fell over the Provence.

Behind the winning BMW, Rutronik’s trio of Niederhauser, Picariello and Sven Müller took second, ahead of the #22 CLRT Porsche of Güven, Heinrich and Bachler — who faded slightly in the second half of the race but still picked up a solid podium finish to start their campaign.

The #48 Mercedes of Engel, Auer and Cairoli came home fourth, followed by the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin of Drudi, Thiim and Sorensen. The #98 ROWE Racing BMW of Farfus, Krohn and Marciello completed the top six, despite Marciello suffering a puncture in the fifth hour that forced an extra stop. A well-timed FCY later in the race allowed them to limit the damage.

In the Gold Cup, CSA Racing looked set to win on its McLaren debut — and briefly did so on the road — but a ten-second post-race penalty for ignoring race director instructions dropped the #111 back to seventh overall, behind the recovering ROWE BMW. That handed class victory to the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Dennis Marschall, Dustin Blattner and Conrad Laursen, which bounced back after an opening lap spin.

Silver Cup honours went to the #992 Paradine Competition BMW of Charles Clark, Pedro Ebrahim and James Kellett. It was a solid debut for the team and an equally strong showing from Steller Motorsport’s Corvette, which finished second in class. The pole-sitting #60 VSR Lamborghini saw its challenge unravel with a costly track limits penalty in the final hours.

Verstappen.com Racing’s #33 Aston Martin claimed ninth overall and third in the Gold Cup, while AlManar Racing by WRT completed the top ten in the #777 BMW.

It was a nightmare outing for reigning champions AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors, whose two Pro class Ferrari 296 GT3s struggled for pace and finished a lowly 15th and 16th.

Next up is the Sprint Cup opener at Brands Hatch on May 3–4, followed by Zandvoort two weeks later. The Endurance Cup continues at Monza on June 1 — a very different challenge to Paul Ricard, but one that’s sure to test the strength of this early-season pecking order.