Article Summary
- The BMW M3 Touring 24H had won the SPX class in all the preparatory races leading up to today's win.
- Connor De Phillippi, Ugo de Wilde, Jens Klingmann, and Neil Verhagen drove the racing wagon to a fifth place overall.
- BMW M Motorsport hints this isn't the end of the race car as we'll be seeing more of the M3 Touring 24H soon.
The BMW M3 Touring 24H may have started life as an April Fool’s prank, but today’s result is no joke. The #81 race car driven by Connor De Phillippi, Ugo de Wilde, Jens Klingmann, and Neil Verhagen triumphed in the SPX class. Some would argue the result was predictable, considering the performance wagon had already won its class in every preceding race leading up to the big weekend.
That’s not all. The race-ready G81 finished fifth overall in this year’s endurance race, which is an impressive result for a wagon. Schubert Motorsport’s M3 Touring is largely based on the M4 GT3 EVO, which finished fourth overall. Dan Harper, Max Hesse, Sheldon van der Linde, and Dries Vanthoor shared driving duties in ROWE Racing’s #99 race car.
While those two delivered solid results, the other race cars didn’t fare as well. ROWE Racing’s #1 M4 GT3 EVO failed to defend last year’s victory. The coupe driven by Augusto Farfus, Raffaele Marciello, Kelvin van der Linde, and Jordan Pepper was forced to retire before midnight due to refueling system issues.
Meanwhile, Schubert Motorsport’s #77 M4 GT3 EVO, driven by Philipp Eng, Robin Frijns, Charles Weerts, and Marco Wittmann, finished ninth.
Looking ahead, this likely won’t be the end of the road for the M3 Touring. BMW M Motorsport has hinted that the performance wagon could return to the racetrack sooner rather than later.
“And don’t worry: this story isn’t parked yet. Stay tuned, you might see it rolling again sooner than you think.”
Bittersweet Win For Mercedes-AMG
With only three hours remaining in the race, the #3 AMG GT3 driven by Max Verstappen, Daniel Juncadella, Jules Gounon, and Lucas Auer held a lead of more than 10 seconds and appeared to be cruising toward a comfortable victory. However, a driveshaft failure handed the win to the sister #80 AMG car of Maro Engel, Maxime Martin, Fabian Schiller, and Luca Stolz, which crossed the finish line first.
The Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 fielded by Red Bull Team ABT finished second, ahead of Walkenhorst Motorsport’s Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 in third.
