Ex-F1 racer Stevens rejoins Winkelhock in WRT Audi
Ex-Formula 1 driver Will Stevens will return to the WRT Audi team for the next Sprint Cup round of the Blancpain GT Series at the Hungaroring later this month.
Photo by: Vision Sport Agency
The former Caterham and Manor F1 racer will take up his place in the Belgian team's Sprint Cup line-up alongside Markus Winkelhock in Hungary on August 27, after being replaced by three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Andre Lotterer at last month's Spa 24 Hours Endurance Cup BGTS round.
Stevens will then contest the Sprint Cup finale at the Nurburgring in September alongside Winkelhock, with whom he lies second in the points after three of the five rounds.
The 26-year-old Briton told Motorsport.com: “The plan is to finish the season with WRT, and I've been back in the car today at the Hungaroring and had a really strong test.
“I believe that 'Winkie' and me are a good partnership, and I have a good feeling about the rest of the season.”
It is unclear whether Stevens, who described the Sprint Cup as his “main focus”, will contest the final BGTS enduro at Barcelona in October.
WRT boss Vincent Vosse said that it was “always my wish” that Stevens would return to the team and that he was “still working” on having him in a car at Barcelona.
Stevens and WRT have declined to offer an explanation as to why the Briton missed Spa. He and team-mates Marcel Fassler and Dries Vanthoor failed to finish any of the three races prior to the double-points round in Belgium.
GT3 debut in BMW at Nordschleife
Stevens will also race a GT3 car for the first time on the Nurburgring-Nordschleife this weekend when he lines up at the wheel of a Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3.
The drive in the six-hour race alongside with Christian Krognes, Michele di Martino and Matias Henkola follows an outing with the same team aboard a BMW M235i one-make racer in the VLN opener in March.
“It will be a challenge, but I'm looking to pick up some experience on the Nordschleife in a GT3 car,” he said.
It comes just one week after an outing in the Pirelli World Challenge with the factory-supported Absolute Racing Bentley team at the Utah circuit near Salt Lake City.
He drove in the pro-am class together with team regular Andrew Kim from South Korea in what was a one-off appearance.
“I'm trying to do as many things as possible to open doors and give me options for the future,” said Stevens, who won GTE Am at Le Mans in June with the British JMW Ferrari team.
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