Walkenhorst Names Pro Lineups for Endurance Cup Return

Four DTM race winners including two series champions are among the drivers named in Walkenhorst Motorsport’s lineup for its return to the top class of Fanateec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup.

Double DTM champion Marco Wittmann will share the No. 34 BMW M6 GT3 with fellow German series race winner Sheldon van der Linde and Nürburgring ace David Pittard.

The No. 35 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW will be driven by 2011 DTM champion Martin Tomczyk, ex-Formula 1 driver Timo Glock and 21-year-old French prospect Thomas Neubauer who claimed two overall Sprint Cup poles in a Lexus RC F GT3 last year.

Walkenhorst is embarking on its first Endurance Cup campaign in the Pro class since 2017. The German squad continued for one more season after that in the Am category.

It also made further Pro-class appearances but these were restricted to the Total 24 Hours of Spa headline round, which it won in 2018 with a BMW driven by Tom Blomqvist, Christian Krognes and Philipp Eng.

Over the last two years, Walkenhorst’s Spa appearances came as part of a full-time involvement in the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli, which like GTWC Europe is organized by SRO Motorsports Group.

The team won the Indianapolis 8 Hour and Kyalami 9 Hour IGTC rounds last year, while its drivers Augusto Farfus and Nicky Catsburg captured the drivers’ championship.

“After a successful IGTC season in 2020, we are all highly motivated to build on those successes,” said team manager Niclas Koenigbauer.

“We are in the middle of intensive preparations and will do our best to bring home fitting results for the BMW M6 GT3’s farewell season.

“I’m delighted with our new driver line-up and know that with this we have laid an important foundation for achieving our goals. We will have a strong package, and as a team we are really looking forward to the challenges of the 2021 season.”

In the No. 34 car, both Wittmann and Pittard are new to GTWC Europe while van der Linde holds one year of experience in the series with Audi squad Land-Motorsport.

Neubauer drove for Walkenhorst in an NLS race last year, while the former Panis Racing driver brings the most Endurance Cup experience into the No. 35 crew.

Neither Tomczyk nor Glock, who was BMW’s top performer in the DTM last year, have raced full-time in GTWC Europe before.

Glock did, however, contest two races in 2015 sharing a BMW Z4 GT3 with Bruno Spengler and Alex Zanardi.