Frijns Set to Complete GTWC Europe Season with WRT

Robin Frijns will complete the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS season with Team WRT as Kelvin van der Linde’s replacement for the final Sprint and Endurance Cup rounds.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 class winner with WRT has been confirmed to drive the team’s No. 30 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo in this weekend’s Sprint Cup double-header at Valencia, before switching to the No. 32 Audi for the 3 Hours of Barcelona on October 10.

Frijns replaces Kelvin van der Linde at both meetings, with the South African concentrating on his DTM championship push with fellow Audi squad Abt Sportsline.

Frijns will team up with Benjamin Goethe at Valencia, racing in the Pro class against confirmed Sprint Cup champions Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts who will become his co-drivers for Barcelona.

The Dutchman had already subbed for van der Linde at the Nürburgring Endurance Cup round where he, Vanthoor and Weerts took a sixth-place result as the top Audi crew.

Frijns also finished fourth in the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa sharing an additional Audi Sport-backed WRT entry with his former DTM rival Nico Mueller and Dennis Lind.

The last Sprint Cup appearance for Frijns occurred in 2018, the year after he won the championship with Stuart Leonard in a WRT Audi.

“I drove at Valencia a couple of times, and it proved a good track in Formula E the last two years, but I have never driven a GT3 car there,” said Frijns.

“[It] looks like it should suit our cars and that it will be hot weather. It’s been quite some time I haven’t done a Sprint race, so I look forward to jumping in and having some fun.”

Goethe added: “I am really looking forward to this weekend’s race in Valencia. It isn’t a track where I have been often, so it should be interesting.

“I am also very excited to team up with Robin; I am sure I’ll learn a lot from a driver like him. Hopefully, we can finish the championship off strongly.”

Van der Linde also missed the second of this year’s five Sprint Cup rounds due to a DTM clash, with Markus Winkelhock stepping in for the races at Zandvoort. Christopher Mies then joined Goethe in the Gulf-liveried No. 30 Audi for round four at Brands Hatch.

The DTM is not in action this weekend, but the Valencia GTWC Europe fixture sits in between two DTM events at Assen and Hockenheim.

The Barcelona Endurance Cup finale falls on the same date as the rescheduled DTM decider at the Norisring. Other drivers involved in both series include Vincent Abril, Daniel Juncadella, Philip Ellis, Timo Glock, Sheldon van der Linde and Marco Wittmann.

All of those competitors prioritized the DTM when the two series overlapped during the Nürburgring GTWC weekend.