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Dennis, Frijns Among DTM Clash Stand-Ins at Nürburgring

Seven GTWC Europe drivers to miss Nürburgring Endurance Cup round due to DTM clash…

Photos: BMW, Audi

Formula E front-runners Jake Dennis and Robin Frijns are among the drivers joining the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup grid for this weekend’s Nürburgring round, in place of drivers affected by a DTM date clash.

Seven full-time DTM drivers are missing the three-hour GTWC Europe race to focus on the German series’ fixture at the Red Bull Ring. No drivers are skipping the DTM to race in the penultimate round of the Endurance Cup campaign.

Dennis, who finished third in the recently-concluded Formula E season for BMW, has been drafted in by Walkenhorst Motorsport as one of two substitutes in the German team’s No. 34 BMW M6 GT3.

2020 Nürburgring 24 Nick Yelloly has also joined the crew alongside full-season driver David Pittard, with both Marco Wittmann and Sheldon van der Linde racing in the DTM.

Dennis previously drove for the R-Motorsport Aston Martin squad in Endurance Cup and won the 3 Hours of Silverstone with the team in 2018.

In the other Walkenhorst car, Nicky Catsburg has been brought in for the DTM-bound Timo Glock.

Frijns, who finished fifth in the Formula E standings driving for Envision Virgin, will replace DTM points leader Kelvin van der Linde in the No. 32 WRT Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 winner is teamed up with Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts, who secured the GTWC Europe Sprint Cup title at Brands Hatch last weekend.

Frijns is poised for his second consecutive Endurance Cup outing with WRT after featuring in the Belgian squad’s additional entry for the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa.

DTM-related swaps can also be found in the Mercedes-AMG camp, where Nico Bastian is subbing for Vincent Abril in Haupt Racing Team’s No. 4 Pro-class car and Felipe Fraga is replacing Daniel Juncadella in the No. 88 AKKA-ASP machine.

Bastian normally competes with fellow Mercedes-AMG team GetSpeed Performance, which has recruited AKKA-ASP Sprint Cup ace Jim Pla for its Pro-Am entry.

Winward Racing’s replacement for DTM driver Philip Ellis in the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG has not been confirmed.

A total of 44 cars are on the entry list for the penultimate round of the Endurance season, after 43 cars ran at Monza followed by 47 at Paul Ricard and 58 at the Spa headliner.

Four additional entries that contested Paul Ricard – the McLaren 720S GT3s from Inception Racing and JP Motorsport, the Car Collection Motorsport Audi and Iron Lynx’s Pro-Am Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 are not heading to the Nürburgring this weekend.

Oman Racing with TF Sport is bringing an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 to Germany for its first GTWC Europe appearance of the year.

The UK-based outfit is running in the Pro-Am class, with Bronze-rated drivers Ahmad Al Harthy and Giacomo Petrobelli joined by AMR factory squad member Charlie Eastwood.

Elsewhere in Pro-Am, Orange 1 FFF Racing Team has opted for a third driver in its No. 19 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo. After driving at Spa, Stefano Constantini continues with Phil Keen and Hiroshi Hamaguchi who ran the Monza and Paul Ricard races as a duo.

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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