RHC Jorgensen/Strom Orders M4 GT3; Plans for 24H Series Use

American team RHC Jorgensen/Strom has placed an order for the new BMW M4 GT3 and is aiming to field the car at three Gulf region endurance races in January with support from Century Motorsport, according to team owner Daren Jorgensen.

RHC, which is led by Jorgensen and Brett Strom, recently appeared on the draft entry list for next year’s Creventic-organized 6 Hours of Abu Dhabi, which takes place the week after the associated Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai on Jan. 14-15.

Jorgensen confirmed that RHC has ordered an example of BMW’s next-generation GT3 car, which will be available for private teams to race from 2022.

The Thermal Club-based organization has tentative plans to contest Creventic’s races in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as the Gulf 12 Hours at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit.

Its potential involvement in the Gulf 12 Hours on Jan. 8, which depends on future travel measures and COVID-19 pandemic developments, would likely mark the customer race debut of BMW’s new M4 racer considering the event’s place on the racing calendar.

“We have placed an order for the M4 GT3 platform,” Jorgensen told Sportscar365.

“It is unclear precisely when delivery is expected. Due to the hierarchy of teams that may be receiving the platform in the U.S, we proposed to BMW to take delivery in [the] UAE in December 2021.

“That has yet to be confirmed. If it gets confirmed, we would spend December 2021 testing at Dubai and then, fingers crossed, racing in January 2022 in the Gulf 12 Hours and Dubai 24 Hours.”

Jorgensen explained that RHC is planning to send a BMW M4 GT4 to the Gulf region enduros as a backstop “in case the M4 GT3 is not ready” by that point, or if the team feels it has not done enough testing with the car.

It’s understood that the Asian Le Mans Series is also on RHC’s radar, if the championship continues with the Gulf region format that was introduced this year.

Next season could also include a European venture in the Creventic 24H Series, although Jorgensen stressed that this is among the team’s program ideas and is not a set plan. 

“For 2022 we would run the M4 GT3 primarily in Europe in the Creventic 24H series,” he said.

“I don’t anticipate running the car in other series in 2022, though there may be opportunities as we learn the platform.

“RHC has a solid performance record in GT4 with podiums throughout 2018-2020 at races such as Bathurst 12H, 24H COTA, Spa 12H, Laguna 8H, and Dubai.

“COVID-19 has curtailed some of our activities in 2020 and 2021 to date. Our experience in GT3 is more limited, and during development we want to keep it as efficient and focused as possible.”

RHC owns a pair of M4 GT4s and has previously received support on that program from British outfit Century Motorsport.

The association between RHC and Century is set to continue as the former makes its planned GT3 step next year.

“Century Motorsport and Strom Motorsports will be supporting RHC in all races, with a mixed crew based in the U.S, Germany and UK,” explained Jorgensen.

Century Motorsport team principal Nathan Freke told Sportscar365 that his team is “working hard” to get an M4 GT3 signed up for next year’s British GT season, in addition to its commitments supporting the RHC project which he described as “super exciting”.

Century’s last British GT program at the top tier came in 2019 when it ran a BMW M6 GT3.

Several teams are currently in line to run the M4 GT3 next year, including brand stalwart Turner Motorsport in the U.S and Taiwanese squad Team AAI, which has declared plans for a two-car program involving Super Taikyu and the China GT Championship.