Sportscar365’s Rookie of the Year

 Sportscar365 is recognizing its top competitors and moments from 2024, starting with Rookie of the Year for drivers who raced full-time for the first time in a series or category.

Rookie of the Year – Dries Vanthoor

Last year, we decided to exclude newcomers to Hypercar and GTP from eligibility for this award due to the sheer quantity of established drivers stepping up from GTs to prototypes. But for this year, top-class rookies are back in the mix, and Dries Vanthoor’s exploits for BMW in the FIA World Endurance Championship earn him the top honor.

Although Vanthoor is well-established in GT3s, his prototype experience prior to joining BMW’s LMDh effort was limited to just two starts in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, an additional one-off in the 6 Hours of Fuji in 2022, and an outing in the European Le Mans Series for WRT way back in 2016. But you wouldn’t have known it from the way Vanthoor almost immediately stood out in relation to his peers at BMW.

Topping first qualifying at Le Mans aboard the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8 was one of the undoubted highlights of the year. Fuji, where he brought home the car second to secure the German marque’s first WEC podium finish, was another.

The younger brother of Hypercar champion Laurens again proved his versatility in 2024 — he continuously swapped between the M Hybrid V8 (which he also drove in the Rolex 24 at Daytona) and the BMW M4 GT3, but his performance in both LMDh and GT3 machinery never appeared to suffer from the constant jumping back-and-forth.

That BMW is entrusting Vanthoor with double duties across both the WEC and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2025 stands as testament to the high regard in which he is held by the Bavarian manufacturer.

And if the squad’s late 2024 WEC form translates into 2025, then perhaps he could soon be challenging his big brother for the main prize…

Honorable Mentions

***Charles Milesi was another top-class debutant to catch the eye in WEC this year, turning in a number of impressive performances for Alpine. While strong from the off, it was after Alpine shook off its early-season struggles with its new A424 LMDh that Milesi really shone, and while fifth at COTA turned out to be the high-water mark, either of the final two races could have yielded a podium if not for unfortunate incidents.

***Julien Andlauer made his Hypercar bow in the privateer Proton Competition Porsche, and signaled his arrival with a series of bold overtakes in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, a race in which he and teammate Neel Jani fought for victory. That along with other strong performances, including at Le Mans, earned Andlauer a promotion to the works Penske squad for 2025 and the WEC’s ‘Revelation of the Year’ award.

***Connor Zilisch made just five LMP2 starts this year, but he made them count. Driving for Era Motorsport, the 18-year-old captured a class win at the Rolex 24 at Daytona on debut before following that up with another win at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, later closing off the year with podiums at Indianapolis and Petit Le Mans. While Zilisch now seems to be on the fast track to success in NASCAR, he will make another Daytona appearance next month as part of an all-star Trackhouse/TF Sport lineup in GTD Pro.

***Single-seater convert Esteban Masson impressed in twin campaigns for Akkodis ASP in the WEC’s LMGT3 class and for Kessel Racing in the European Le Mans Series, finishing runner-up in the latter. While the performance of the Lexus RC F GT3 in the WEC didn’t allow for too many chances to shine, Masson’s speed didn’t go unnoticed, with the Frenchman earning a call-up to drive Toyota’s Hypercar in the Bahrain rookie test.

***Justin Rothberg stepped up to GT3 competition in Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS following success in Ferrari Challenge North America, and impressed as he teamed up with Robby Foley aboard Turner Motorsport’s Pro-Am-entered BMW M4 GT3. The duo won three races, beating Samantha Tan Racing to the top prize. Rothberg likewise earned plaudits for his performances in GT America powered by AWS as he fell just a point short of beating sports car stalwart Johnny O’Connell to the title.

***Morris Schuring was one of two impressive Silver-rated drivers for Manthey in the WEC’s LMGT3 class, but while eventual title-winner Joel Sturm already had some GT3 experience coming into 2024, Schuring was stepping up from one-make Porsche Carrera Cup competition. Winning at Le Mans together with Richard Lietz and Yasser Shahin was the undoubtedly highlight of an excellent debut season for the Dutchman.

***Atsushi Miyake was the standout driver from a bumper rookie crop in SUPER GT’s top GT500 class, joining Mitsunori Takaboshi aboard the No. 3 NISMO Nissan Z and getting a win at just the second time of asking at Fuji. A superb pass in the closing stages on Honda’s Naoki Yamamoto yielded another podium at Autopolis and helped he and Takaboshi finish third in the standings as the highest-placed Nissan crew.