Oosten, Frijns Added to Revamped ROWE Monza Lineup

Maxime Oosten and Robin Frijns will join ROWE Racing for this weekend’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup round at Monza as part of a revamped lineup due to a clash with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The Dutch racers will pilot the No. 98 BMW M4 GT3 for the three-hour race, teaming up with series regular Marco Wittmann.

Oosten and Frijns will stand in for the regular drivers Nick Yelloly and Philipp Eng, who will compete as part of BMW M Team RLL’s GTP squad at Indianapolis Motor Speedway instead.

While Frijns has one previous start with ROWE under his belt, dating back to this year’s Nürburgring 24, Oosten will be making his debut with the Hans-Peter Naundorf-led squad.

The 20-year-old has been racing BMW machinery since he stepped into the single-make BMW M2 Cup in his native Netherlands in 2020 before competing in the likes of ADAC GT4 Germany, Asian Le Mans Series, ADAC GT Masters and Fanatec GT Asia.

He made his CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa debut in 2022, driving an ST Racing-entered BMW M4 GT3 in the Bronze Cup.

“We are facing another double-header weekend, which presents us with particular challenges in terms of personnel,” said BMW M Motorsport director Andreas Roos.

“However, as BMW M Motorsport, we are committed to executing a comprehensive racing programme, and we gladly embrace this challenge.

“We have decided to give young talent Maxime Oosten the opportunity to compete on the big GT3 stage against the best in the sport.

“Despite being only 20 years old, he has already gathered considerable experience in BMW M Motorsport race cars. This season, he is playing a key role in the ADAC GT Masters with FK Performance Motorsport title fight which is impressive.

“This weekend, he will surely learn a lot from top drivers like Marco Wittmann and Robin Frijns, as well as from a world-class team like ROWE Racing.

“From a sporting perspective, the goal at Monza is to keep the title fights open in both the overall standings and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and, ideally, to improve our position.

“In the IMSA series, we have another chance to return to the podium with the BMW M Hybrid V8 at the end of what has been a challenging season. I wish all teams and drivers the best of luck.”

ROWE Racing currently sits second in the Endurance Cup teams’ standings, nine points behind championship leaders Comtoyou Racing.

Meanwhile, the No. 98 BMW sits 15th in the drivers’ standings, having recorded its first points finish of the season at Nürburgring by finishing fifth.