STRONG PERFORMANCE BY TEAM WRT AT MONZA: GOLD CUP VICTORY AND A TRIO OF OVERALL TOP 10 FINISHES
Monza, Italy – June 1st, 2025 – Team WRT continued its 2025 GT World Challenge Europe campaign with a solid showing at the second round of the Endurance Cup, held at the high-speed Autodromo Nazionale Monza. Fielding three BMW M4 GT3 EVO entries, one each in the Pro, Silver, and Gold Cup categories, the team delivered a consistent performance throughout the three-hour race, securing key points and valuable momentum heading into the season’s most decisive month. All three cars finished in the top 10 overall, out of 59 competitors.
RACE HIGHLIGHTS
• The #32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, driven by Charles Weerts, Kelvin van der Linde, and Ugo de Wilde, finished P5 overall after a well-managed race from start to finish. After a strong pitstop strategy and clean execution, the Pro trio leaves Monza leading the championship with more points on the board.
• The AlManar Racing by WRT #777 entry once again showcased impressive pace and consistency in the Gold Cup category. Jens Klingmann, Ben Tuck, and Al Faisal Al Zubair climbed steadily through the field to finish P4 overall and take the class win - their second podium of the Endurance Cup season.
• The #30 BMW M4 GT3 EVO had a breakthrough performance in the Silver Cup. After leading part of the race, the trio of Gilles Stadsbader, Etienne Cheli, and Gustav Bergström secured P2 in class, marking their first podium of the season and a turning point after a challenging start to the year.
Pivotal month ahead
With a Gold Cup win, a first Silver podium of the season, and all three cars finishing inside the top 10 overall, Team WRT now enters a crucial month of June, with two of the most iconic races in world motorsport on the horizon: the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The team will field four cars at Le Mans, two Hypercars and two LMGT3s, and five GT3 entries at Spa, making this the most intense and decisive phase of the 2025 season, a true turning point across both FIA WEC and GT World Challenge Europe.
QUALIFYING RESULTSRACE RESULTSFIGURES
- Number of cars on the grid: 59 (16 Pro, 10 Gold, 17 Silver, 16 Bronze)
- Manufacturers: 10
- Number of WRT cars: 3 (#30 in Silver, #32 in Pro, #777 in Gold)
- 84 laps in total for winner
FACTS
Qualifying 1:
Car #30: P30 overall, P9 in class (Etienne Cheli)
Car #32: P15 overall, P9 in class (Kelvin van der Linde)
Car #777: P19 overall, P6 in class (Jens Klingmann)
Qualifying 2:
Car #30: P33 overall, P8 in class (Gilles Stadsbader)
Car #32: P12 overall, P8 in class (Charles Weerts)
Car #777: P13 overall, P4 in class (Ben Tuck)
Qualifying 3:
Car #30: P47 overall, P14 in class (Gustav Bergström)
Car #32: P21 overall, P10 in class (Ugo de Wilde)
Car #777: P52 overall, P9 in class (Al Faisal Al Zubair)
Combined Qualifying:
Car #30: P38 overall, P12 in class
Car #32: P11 overall, P9 in class
Car #777: P28 overall, P7 in class
Starting drivers:
#30: Gilles Stadsbader
#32: Charles Weerts
#777: Al Faisal Al Zubair
Race – 1st hour:
Clean start from all cars
Safety Car – Incident at the start between #21 & #9
FCY - Car #611 in gravel
Short FCY – Incident at T1 # 92 and #6
End of 1st hour: #32 in P9 (P8 in class), #777 in P25 (P6 in class), #30 in P26 (P6 in class)
Race – 2nd hour:
Short FCY – Car #80 in gravel T2
#32 Driver change to de Wilde
#777 Driver change to Tuck
FCY – Car #64 in gravel then Car #111
#30 Driver change to Bergström
#Car 32 - 5 second penalty at next pitstop for speeding in the pit lane
End of 2nd hour: #32 in P5, #777 in P6 (P1 in class), #30 in P10 (P2 in class)
Race - 3rd hour:
Short FCY – Debris on track
Driver change to van der Linde
Driver change to Klingmann
Driver change to Cheli
#32 - 5 second penalty for speeding in the pit lane to be added at the end of the race
FCY – Debris and Car #19 slow on track
Short FCY – Car #60 in gravel
End of 3rd hour: #32 in P5 (P4 in class), #777 in P4 (P1 in class), #30 in P9 (P2 in class)
RACE RESULTS
OVERALL
1/ Auer - Cairoli - Engel (Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO) 84 laps
2/ Goethe - Loake – Kirchhöfer (McLaren 720S GT3 EVO) + 16.417s
3/ Drudi - Sorensen – Thiim (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO) + 24.739s
4/ Al Zubair - Klingmann - Tuck (BMW M4 GT3 EVO) + 25.924s
5/ de Wilde - van der Linde - Weerts (BMW M4 GT3 EVO) + 33.131s
9/ Bergström - Cheli - Stadsbader (BMW M4 GT3 EVO) + 46.719s
GOLD
1/ Al Zubair - Klingmann - Tuck (BMW M4 GT3 EVO) 84 laps
2/ King - Lulham - Vermeulen (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO) + 35.975s
3/ Cazzaniga - Moncini – Ogaard (Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II) + 38.385s
4/ Allen – Ali – Porter (McLaren 720S GT3 EVO) + 1 lap
5/ Moretti - Paul - Southern JR (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2) + 1 lap
SILVER
1/ Jansen - Moore - Waberski (BMW M4 GT3 EVO) 84 laps
2/ Bergström - Cheli – Stadsbader (BMW M4 GT3 EVO) + 0.401s
3/ Aka – Companc – Di Folco (Audi R8 LMS EVO II) + 10.049s
4/ Bartone - Basz - Mettler (Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO) + 26.273s
5/ Andriolo – Schumacher – Wiebelhaus (Ford Mustang GT3) + 37.639s
Vincent VOSSE, Team Principal Team WRT: "Strong weekend, solid points. We still need to understand why qualifying further up the grid has been a challenge. But considering where we started and where we finished, the result is quite positive. A fantastic win for #777 and a first podium for car #30, a great feeling for the entire team. The guys delivered an outstanding performance, as always. Now, let’s focus on the big one!"
Gustav BERGSTRÖM, driver #30: "What a good race, it felt really good, and I think I can talk for us all on that! The car worked very well thanks to the team. Finally, a first podium of the season feels amazing, and we are going to Spa with a good feeling!"
Etienne CHELI, driver #30: “I’m absolutely thrilled! Achieving this first podium is an incredible feeling. It gives the whole team a great boost ahead of the big one, Spa! It’s been a long weekend filled with hard work from the whole team. Throughout the practice sessions, we built a solid foundation for the race, and today we saw it pay off! The team executed a perfect strategy, which allowed us to gain positions and make this podium possible".
Gilles STADSBADER, driver #30: "Happy with the race! The pace was strong, and the car felt fantastic. The team delivered a great strategy. If we can carry this momentum into Spa, we’ll be in a great position. That race will be all about avoiding mistakes, and I believe we have the right lineup to do just that. I'm heading to Spa with confidence. For now, it’s time to enjoy this podium, especially after a challenging start to the season!"
Kelvin VAN DER LINDE, driver #32: “It was a busy race, and I think we extracted the maximum from this weekend. One of our strengths this year has been our ability to bounce back from difficult qualifying sessions, and this weekend was no exception. Once again, the execution from the team was excellent. It’s a shame about the two penalties, but we’ll investigate what happened, learn from it, and make sure we head to Spa with a clean and solid race".
Al Faisal AL ZUBAIR, driver #777: “What an amazing result! To finish 4th overall and a win in class is unbelievable, especially starting from P28. As usual we do what we need to do as drivers, and we let the WRT crew do what they do best! They've proven it last year and found another way to do so this year. The trust is growing!"
Jens KLINGMANN, driver #777: "Crazy race once again! I'm not tired of saying ‘teamwork makes the dream work’ because when we came to this race we didn't think we had a car to win but the execution is always so good, and the strategy is always brilliant! We managed to stay out of trouble and to execute very cleanly and precisely and that made us score a podium and win! I'm very proud! Hopefully we can keep it up for the big highlight, Spa 24H. Now it's time to enjoy, I'm super happy!"
Ben TUCK, driver #777: "Jens has mentioned it enough times, but the cliché quote of ‘teamwork makes the dream work’ is so true. It really was a team game today! Al Faisal got hit in the first stint, we were driving around with no rear bumper. We were worried! But car was all good in the end. He drove fantastically; his pace was mega. I came out in the lead! The team executed the pitstop perfectly, we boxed in the exact lap we needed too. The win was there!"
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