ROWE Retains Winning Trio for Spa 24H; Adds Marciello for N24

ROWE Racing has retained last year’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa-winning trio of Marco Wittmann, Nick Yelloly and Philipp Eng for its Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup lineup, while new BMW factory driver Raffaele Marciello joins the team at the Nürburgring 24.

Wittmann, Yelloly and Eng will share the cockpit of the German squad’s BMW M4 GT3 for all but one of the Endurance Cup rounds, as the Monza event on Sep. 21-22 clashes with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race in Indianapolis.

As a result, full season WeatherTech Championship GTP drivers Yelloly and Eng will be unavailable. The replacement drivers will be announced at a later date.

ROWE’s second entry will be manned by Dan Harper, Max Hesse and Augusto Farfus, with the three reuniting as Farfus served as Harper and Hesse’s mentor during the BMW Junior Team program.

Additionally, the team has named seven factory drivers for a two-car assault on the Nürburgring 24, where it finished runner-up behind Frikadelli Racing Team last year.

Wittmann and Farfus are included, as our Sheldon van der Linde, Maxime Martin, Dries Vanthoor and two new additions in Raffaele Marciello and Robin Frijns.

Both drivers are set for their first N24 appearances in BMW colors, having raced for Mercedes-AMG and Audi previously.

Marciello has never won the Eifel classic, although he holds the qualifying lap record after taking pole position last year. Frijns was part of Audi’s most recent winning lineup in 2022, notably alongside Vanthoor.

“I am pleased that our partnership with BMW M Motorsport is now entering its ninth year,” said ROWE Racing team manager Hans-Peter Naundorf.

“It is characterised by great mutual respect and an exceptionally loyal collaboration.

“Having the winning trio from last year allows us to embark on the title defense at Spa, providing a perfect foundation to once again compete for victory.

“Additionally, two of the three driver positions remain unchanged in the sister car, and Augusto Farfus brings additional qualities with his driving skill, vast experience, and exemplary team spirit.

“This year, we will have seven BMW M works drivers on the Nordschleife. For the first time, Robin Frijns and Raffaele Marciello will compete for ROWE Racing in the 24h Nürburgring, whom we have known as formidable opponents.

“Our entire team looks forward to collaborating with two such successful and fast drivers, and we warmly welcome them to the ROWE Racing family.”