TEAM WRT CHASES WEC TITLES IN BAHRAIN AND TO FINISH THE ADAC GT ON A HIGH

TEAM WRT CHASES WEC TITLES IN BAHRAIN AND TO FINISH THE ADAC GT ON A HIGH

04/11/2021

Team WRT is off to its last double commitment weekend of the season, as it prepares for the final rounds of both the FIA World Endurance Championship and the ADAC GT Masters. While in Germany the Belgian squad will run for honour, there is much at stake in Bahrain, in the second race of the double-header at Shakir that will decide the LMP2 titles. After winning the 6-hour race last weekend, Team WRT approaches the final fight with a slight advantage.

WRT Team Principal Vincent Vosse reckons: “The last WEC round at Bahrain is going to be a challenging race, yet another one. We can already be very happy with what we achieved in our first year in the championship, we did not know what to expect and did not have a precise objective, but now that we find ourselves fighting for the title, of course, we are ready to go for it. The situation doesn’t live much margin to calculations: we have to be in front. Ideally, we have to try to replicate what we did last weekend, a faultless race. In the ADAC GT, we’ll try to finish the season on a very positive note, I know we can do it.”

FIA WEC

The success conquered by Robin Frijns, Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi last Saturday, the second of the year after the Le Mans 24 Hours, has been of the utmost importance. It has allowed both the team and its trio of drivers to take the lead in their respective standings, with an advantage of 5 points on the closest rival and five contenders in total still in the championship fight.

The gap is narrow, but to take the lead has had the psychological effect to further boost the determination of the whole team. The objective will be to replicate a faultless performance like last week and add the WEC crowns to the triumphs already harvested at Le Mans and in the ELMS.

This second race in Bahrain will adopt an 8-hour format, with an end in darkness. The team will be on track again on Sunday, for the Rookie Test organized by the week, which will see the Oreca 07 Gibson entrusted to Sophia Flörsch.

Robin Frijns: “We are leading the standings and it’s the last race of the season: we need to make something out of it! Still, three other contenders are very much in the game, and it won’t be easy. Our last weekend was very strong and this gives us a good boost. So, all eyes on the prize…”

Ferdinand Habsburg: “One more race of work and we will see what we can achieve in Year 1 of our presence in theWEC. It would be amazing to win this year one last time, as it would be a great way to complete my two years together with Team WRT.”

Charles Milesi: “Here we are for the last race of the WEC, we are leading the championship by a few points. This race is not going to be easy and first we need to stay out of trouble like last weekend and do no mistakes. We are on a good momentum and we need to keep it up to the finish line.”

FIA World Endurance Championship - Round 6
Bahrain 8 Hours, Bahrain – 4-6 November

Timetable (CET + 2)

Thursday 4 November 2021
17:30-19:00 Free Practice 1

Friday 5 November 2021
09:00-10:30 Free Practice 2
13:20-14:20 Free Practice 3
17:40-17:50 Qualifying (Hypercar & LMP2)

Saturday 6 November 2021
14:00-22:00 Race (6 Hours)

Team WRT entry (Oreca 07 Gibson)
#31 Robin Frijns (NL) - Ferdinand Habsburg (AT) – Charles Milesi (FR)

ADAC GT

Very far from the Middle East and in a totally different scenery, the 2021 ADAC GT Masters is coming to an end at the Nürburgring. Weather can be pretty wintery in the Eifel forests at this time of the year and this will certainly be a factor to take into consideration ahead of the event, which will take place on one of the shorter layouts of the track, the Kurzanbindung of 3.629 km.

For Team WRT, with no role in the title fights anymore, the motivation will be to finish on a high and to wrap-up 2021 with a second race win, after the one signed at Zandvoort. Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts will do their utmost to bring their Audi R8 LMS to a good result.

Dries Vanthoor: “It’s the last round of the ADAC GT Masters this weekend, it hasn’t been the expected seasons for us there, so we are all eager to finish on a high.”

Charles Weerts: “We can’t say we have been as successful as expected in the ADAC this year, we certainly had good moments, but we have also been very unlucky. We should be competitive at the Nürburgring, where we have already proven fast, although it is not one of my favourite tracks. We’ll do our best to close the season with a positive result.”

ADAC GT Masters - Round 7
Hockenheimring, Germany – 5-7 November 2021

Timetable (CET)

Friday 5 November 2021
11:15-12:00 Free practice 1
14:15-15:00 Free practice 2

Saturday 6 November 2021
09:30-09:50 Qualifying 1
15:30-16:30 Race 1

Sunday 7 November 2021
09:00-09:20 Qualifying 2
15:30-16:30 Race 2

Team WRT entry (Audi R8 LMS)
#32 Dries Vanthoor (BE) – Charles Weerts (BE)