Eng to Replace Rossi in WRT Lineup for Kyalami

Philipp Eng will replace Valentino Rossi in BMW M Team WRT’s driver lineup for the Kyalami 9 Hour later this month.

The Austrian is due to share the No. 46 BMW M4 GT3 with Augusto Farfus and Maxime Martin, who recently teamed up with Rossi for the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

Seven-time MotoGP top-category world champion Rossi confirmed to Sportscar365 at Bathurst that he wouldn’t be competing in the second round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli season in South Africa.

Eng, who drives for the BMW M Team RLL LMDh program in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP class, is set for his first IGTC appearance since 2020.

Rossi is expected to return to the No. 46 BMW for the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa in July, considering the event doubles up as part of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup, which Rossi is contesting with Farfus and Martin.

Team WRT’s No. 32 BMW for Kyalami will continue to be driven by Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon van der Linde and Charles Weerts who finished fourth overall at Bathurst.

The No. 46 BMW encountered an issue with its brake lights during the race at Mount Panorama that caused it to finish one lap down in sixth.

Speaking after Bathurst, BMW M Motorsport director Andreas Roos said: “Unfortunately we have not been competitive enough to fight for the podium and so the great effort has not been rewarded with the corresponding results.

“We take the positives: we brought both cars to the finish and we gelled well with BMW M Team WRT in our first official race together. The BMW M4 GT3 once more proved to be very reliable; we just had one minor technical issue with the No. 46 car.

“Now we continue to work and prepare for the next race at Kyalami.”