After winning the title in the hotly-contested GTB class of the Supercar Challenge last year, his first full year in car racing, 17-year-old Dutch driver Max Koebolt will be making the next step in his career, advised by Dutch former racing driver, Frans Vörös. This year, he will be racing an Audi R8 LMS ultra for the renowned Belgian Audi Club Team WRT in the Blancpain Endurance Series, the popular and highly regarded pan-European competition with endurance races for GT3 machinery. The calendar includes five events with the ‘Total 24 Hours of Spa’, the 24-hour race at the Grand Prix circuit in the Belgian Ardennes, as the undisputed highlight of the season. “Admittedly, the step into this international series is a big one, but I feel ready for it. I am really looking forward to the start of the season,” Max Koebolt says. Like last year, he is supported by Gulf, a legendary sponsor in motorsport.
Max Koebolt was successful in karting before stepping up into single-seaters. He leaves no doubt about his ambitions in motorsport: “I want to be on the starting grid for the Le Mans 24 Hours one day and eventually stand on the podium there,” he says firmly. That also explains his choice to race GT cars, a decision he already made at an early age. “GT racing is getting stronger and more popular every year. As a driver, you can show your skills there,” Koebolt says. “When you succeed, there are also many opportunities to move on to the next level.” With Gulf Netherlands, Koebolt already has a fitting sponsor: Gulf’s blue and orange corporate colours are among the most famous liveries in motorsport, not in the least thanks to Steve McQueen’s film ‘Le Mans’.
In the Blancpain Endurance Series, Koebolt will be racing an Audi R8 LMS ultra, run by the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT. The team of Vincent Vosse, René Verbist and Yves Weerts has more than made its mark in international GT racing over the past years, including a pair of victories in the Spa 24 Hours (2011 and 2014) plus teams’ and drivers’ titles in the Blancpain GT Series, the Blancpain Sprint Series and the Blancpain Endurance Series. “The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT has been tremendously successful in international GT racing,” says Max Koebolt. “I am proud that I can be a part of the team for this season. Moreover, the team has close links with Audi Sport, so who knows what that may lead to one day…”
Former driver Vincent Vosse, who runs the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, says: “We are delighted that we can give a talented driver like Max Koebolt the chance to get experience at an international level. He is by far the youngest driver ever to race for our team, but it is our intention to give him an environment in which he can learn as much as possible and can develop his talent.” In the Blancpain Endurance Series rounds, Max Koebolt will be sharing driving duties in the Audi R8 LMS ultra with French driver Sacha Bottemanne and Belgian Laurent Pasquali. Bottemanne previously raced in the French Porsche Carrera Cup, in which he competed for the team owned by rally legend Sébastien Loeb, while Pasquali caught the attention by winning the 2011 French GT Tour title.
A total of 56 cars to GT3 regulations from eleven different brands have been entered to race in the 2015 Blancpain Endurance Series. The calendar includes five events in Italy, Great Britain, France, Belgium and Germany. There are three races with a duration of three hours, one race that runs over 1,000 kilometres and one 24-hour race. In The Netherlands, RTL GP will be broadcasting the races on TV. The station will be present with its own team during the races.