After the two third places in the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup in Misano and the 24-hour qualification race at the Nürburgring, ROWE RACING is hoping for the third podium finish in a row on a real tradition-steeped track. The team from St. Ingbert will contest its first endurance race of the season in the Blancpain GT Series in the Royal Park of Monza on Sunday (24th April) – the end to a busy April with four races in 23 days. The unique 5.793-kilometre high-speed track in Northern Italy will place totally new demands on the set-up of the two BMW M6 GT3s.

In the number 99 car, the two BMW works drivers Philipp Eng from Austria and Alexander Sims from Great Britain, who finished third in Misano and at the Nürburgring together with BMW DTM driver Maxime Martin last Sunday, will once again receive back-up from BMW works driver Dirk Werner from Germany. The former DTM driver shared the car with them at the VLN opener at the start of April, and will also support the team at the highlight of the season, the 24-hour race in the Eifel (28th/29th May). Eng and Sims, who finished second in the qualifying race in Misano, have 21 points and are in second place in the drivers’ standings of the Blancpain GT Series.

In the number 98 sister car, BMW works driver Lucas Luhr from Germany makes his debut for ROWE RACING. The former DTM driver and one-time FIA-GT world champion, who is primarily in action for BMW Motorsport in a BMW M6 GTLM in the IWSC in North America this year, will support Dutchman Stef Dusseldorp and German Klaus Graf, who finished 11th for the team in Monza last year, in the three-hour race. The race gets underway at 3:00 p.m. CET on Sunday (24th April).

ROWE RACING team boss Hans-Peter Naundorf: “Monza is a unique track, both in terms of its characteristics and its unparalleled atmosphere, which is characterised by the long tradition, enthusiastic fans and not least by the many Italian teams in the field. Monza is the polar opposite of Misano. It was narrow and full of corners there, now we have a high-speed track with a lot of straights. You need a totally different set-up since there is no other track like it. Which is why it is also difficult to assess the capabilities of the BMW M6 GT3 in advance, since we have never tested this car on a similar track. But we are looking forward to the task and hope that we will achieve similar successes to those in the last two races. It would be great if we could pick up more points for the overall standing in the Blancpain GT Series.”