ROWE RACING celebrated the biggest success in the history of the team to date at the legendary track in Spa-Francorchamps and won the 68th edition of the 24 Hours of Spa. After a thrilling and exciting race, which really frayed the nerves of all of the competitors with its many yellow flag phases and safety car phases, as well as numerous periods of freak weather, Briton Alexander Sims crossed the finish line as the winner in the BMW M6 GT3 with #99 after 531 laps and 3,719.124 kilometres on the roller coaster in the Belgian Ardennes.
Together with his regular ROWE colleague, Philipp Eng from Austria, and BMW DTM driver Maxime Martin from Belgium, Sims led the race for long periods of time, always having to defend or regain the lead in hours of a fascinating duel with a Bentley crew. It was only in the final hour of racing that Sims felt slightly less pressure from his rivals, but it wasn’t only another outbreak of rain half an hour before the end of the race that meant that he had to remain totally focussed right to the finish line. But like the entire team, the drivers also delivered a flawless job.
For all three BMW works drivers, it was their first victory in Spa, which was extremely emotional for Maxime Martin in particular. In front of his home fans, he emulated his father Jean-Michel Martin, who won a total of four times in Spa. ROWE Racing handed new partner BMW Motorsport their 23rd overall victory in Spa in the very first year of their collaboration, and the first win in a 24-hour race with the new BMW M6 GT3. Last year, BMW were triumphant in Spa as they bid farewell to the predecessor model, the BMW Z4 GT3, with Dutchman Nick Catsburg as one of the drivers.
This year Catsburg was in action in ROWE RACING’s second BMW M6 GT3 with #98, alongside his fellow countryman Stef Dusseldorp and German BMW works driver and former DTM driver Dirk Werner. The trio were also among the front-runners with good prospects for long periods of the race, and also completed a few laps in the lead. However, 90 minutes before the end of the race, in sixth position, a technical issue forced Dirk Werner to retire from the race and return the BMW M6 GT3 to the pit.
“Last year we bid farewell to the BMW Z4 GT3 with a win in Spa-Francorchamps. The fact that its successor, the BMW M6 GT3, was able to repeat this magnificent success in its first year in action is fantastic. Congratulations to the entire ROWE Racing team on their sensational overall win in Spa. The crew did as flawless a job as the drivers Maxime Martin, Philipp Eng and Alexander Sims in the cockpit – and they more than earned first place,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt.
The victory at the “Le Mans of GT racing”, the highlight of the Blancpain GT Series season also saw Philipp Eng and Alexander Sims move up in the overall standings of the series. With 81 points, the ROWE RACING duo are now in fourth place. After this successful feat in Spa-Francorchamps the team now has almost four weeks to recuperate. Then the next race weekend in the Blancpain GT Series will be held in Budapest on 27th/28th August.
Hans-Peter Naundorf (team principal ROWE RACING):
“This win is the biggest for our team. We have attempted to win a race of this magnitude so many times, but the fact that we finally achieved it with the new car and our new manufacturer partner BMW is phenomenal. I can’t quite take it in right now. It is an enormous success for everyone involved, which will now fill us with boldness, momentum and confidence for the coming races. Everyone in the team did a flawless job, kept going and tried to avoid making any errors. Then you get such a result. We weren’t able to relax at all during the race, only on the final lap was it slightly easier. Now we will all celebrate together this evening.”
Philipp Eng (ROWE RACING, #99 BMW M6 GT3):
“The feeling of winning here is fantastic. There are some races that you want to win in your career as a racing driver, and Spa is definitely one of those. The fact that we are at the top in the BMW M6 GT3′s very first year is incredible. This is my first major success as a works driver, my first major win as an endurance specialist – I need to take it all in first. So much happened in the race, and we also had some good fortune. Then when it started to rain again 30 minutes before the end, I asked myself ‘Is that really necessary, why now?’ I don’t need to experience that tension ever again.”
Maxime Martin (ROWE RACING, #99 BMW M6 GT3):
“I can’t describe how I’m feeling. I’ve competed in the 24 Hours of Spa ten times now and have been in the lead without winning for the four previous races. I had a technical issue each time, and I was kind of expecting us to be unlucky again this year. The entire team did a flawless job. We didn’t have a single problem in the entire race – we were consistently good. It was the best win of my career, alongside my successes in the DTM. When my father gave me a hug, I felt a surge of emotions. My family has won the race seven times now, that is simply sensational.”
Alexander Sims (ROWE RACING, #99 BMW M6 GT3):
Honestly, I still can’t believe it. The last stint in particular was very emotional again. I tried to focus on ending the race safely. My team helped me a lot with that via radio. The 24 Hours of Spa has been a very special race to me since the start of my career in motorsport, and I never expected to win it after just four years of GT racing. I think that everyone at ROWE Racing and BMW Motorsport did a fantastic job with the BMW M6 GT3. What an incredible start; the first season for the car and the first victory at the 24 Hours of Spa. My thanks go to Philipp and Maxime too. They were fantastic from start to finish.”
Nick Catsburg (ROWE RACING, #98 BMW M6 GT3):
“I’m still a bit torn at the moment. Naturally, we were unable to finish the race, but we were up there fighting for the leading positions for large sections of the race. We had the required pace. The team did an outstanding job. And our sister car brought home the win. I know what that feels like, and it is something very special for Maxime Martin and the entire team. There is no way that anyone could have predicted such a result in the BMW M6 GT3′s first year. It really is fantastic.”
Stef Dusseldorp (ROWE RACING, #98 BMW M6 GT3):
“Somehow, the race seems to have it in for me. It all feels a little bit like last year. We were on the way to getting a good result, everyone delivered a strong performance, and then something like that happens. It is really depressing retiring from the race like that. Fortunately, the other car performed perfectly and they were able to bring home the win. Overall everyone did a fantastic job. It is great that our team-mates were able to win the race. Congratulations.”
Dirk Werner (ROWE RACING, #98 BMW M6 GT3):
“It was an unfortunate race for us. We lost a lap at the start during a yellow flag phase. But from that point on, things went pretty well for us. We had good lap times, were able to keep up with our rivals, but were a lap behind. This meant that we were stuck in sixth or seventh place. Unfortunately, we were unable to finish the race, which is a shame, but that can happen in a 24-hour race. Congratulations to our team-mates on their win. They drove a fantastic race.”