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Vanthoor to Sub for Rast in WRT’s Fuji Lineup

GT3 star Dries Vanthoor back in the wheel of an LMP2 for next month’s 6 Hours of Fuji…

Photo: Brecht Decancq

Audi factory driver Dries Vanthoor will return to the cockpit of an LMP2 car as the replacement for Rene Rast in Team WRT’s LMP2 lineup for the 6 Hours of Fuji.

Rast is unable to take part in the fifth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship season due to his participation in the DTM races at Spa on the same Sep. 10-11 weekend.

WRT announced Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup points leader Vanthoor as Rast’s replacement for the Japanese WEC race in a social media post on Thursday.

The Belgian driver will share the No. 31 Oreca 07 Gibson with Robin Frijns and Sean Gelael.

Vanthoor is set for his third LMP2 appearance, after previously suiting up for WRT in a one-off European Le Mans Series race in 2016 as well as this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

His most recent outing came in an additional third Le Mans car for WRT, which earned two additional entries for winning the ELMS title and the 24-hour race last year.

Vanthoor shared the green No. 32 Oreca with fellow GT3 drivers Mirko Bortolotti and Rolf Ineichen, finishing 11th in class and 15th overall.

His 2016 LMP2 drive came in a WRT-prepared Ligier JS P2 Judd alongside his older brother Laurens Vanthoor and Will Stevens, who currently races with JOTA in WEC.

Rast, Nico Mueller and Nick Cassidy are all missing the 6 Hours of Fuji due to the DTM date clash.

Davide Rigon will sub for Cassidy in AF Corse’s No. 54 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, while Vector Sport has yet to announce Mueller’s replacement in the No. 10 Oreca.

In addition to the Fuji WEC round, Vanthoor is also participating in this weekend’s 24 Hours of Zolder in an Audi R8 LMS GT2 that he will share with Fanatec GT2 European Series regulars Bert Longin, Stienes Longin, Peter Guelinckx and Nicolas Saelens.

Daniel Lloyd is a UK-based reporter for Sportscar365, covering the FIA World Endurance Championship, Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, among other series.

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