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Dries Vanthoor
Belgian racing driver From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Dries Vanthoor (born 20 April 1998 in Heusden-Zolder) is a racing driver from Belgium who currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship with BMW M Team WRT.[2] In his previous role as an Audi factory driver, Vanthoor amassed multiple accolades, winning the 2018 Bathurst 12 Hours and 2019 24 Hours of Nürburgring, as well as taking three consecutive titles in the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup from 2020 to 2022 alongside Charles Weerts.
He is the younger brother of Laurens Vanthoor, a Porsche factory driver.
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Early career
Vanthoor began his career in karting, a discipline he remained in until 2014. In 2015, the Belgian stepped up to junior formula, driving in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup as part of Josef Kaufmann Racing.[3] With a win at Assen and a third place at the Nürburgring, Vanthoor ended up sixth in the standings.[4][5]
GT career (2016–23)
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2016
For the 2016 season, Vanthoor switched to sportscar racing, where he would perform double duties in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and GT Series Sprint Cup for Team WRT, partnering Frédéric Vervisch in both series and being joined by brother Laurens Vanthoor in the former championship.[6] During the year, the rookie scored two podiums in the Endurance Cup, leading to an eighth place overall.[7] This included a second place at Silverstone, where Vanthoor briefly took the lead from Rolf Ineichen before being passed by eventual winner Jazeman Jaafar a lap later.[8] The Sprint Cup season began with difficulties, as Vanthoor caused a collision with Maxime Soulet in the season-opening Misano main race.[9] That weekend's qualifying race also heralded the best result of his campaign, a fourth place; he and Vervisch finished 18th overall. In May, Vanthoor took part in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, which he won whilst driving with Bonk Motorsport in the Cup 5 class.[10] Finally, Vanthoor made his prototype racing debut at the 4 Hours of Spa in the ELMS, finishing second alongside his brother and Will Stevens.[11]
2017
The following year, Vanthoor continued with the Belgian team in both categories.[12] In the Endurance Cup, he and Marcel Fässler experienced an unlucky season, retiring from four of the five events. Their Sprint Cup campaign meanwhile, highlighted by a pair of victories at the Hungaroring and another podium in Germany, led to the pair becoming a fixture in the championship battle.[13][14] However, a pit stop issue during the final race cost Vanthoor and Fässler any chances of the title, and they ended up fifth in the standings.[15] It was the 24 Hours of Le Mans which brought glory to Vanthoor that season: he first set a lap record for the LMGTE Am class in qualifying, before winning the race in dominant fashion alongside Endurance Cup teammate Will Stevens and amateur driver Rob Smith.[16][17][18]
After the season concluded, Audi Sport announced that Vanthoor would become a factory driver from 2018 onwards.[19]
2018
At the beginning of 2018, Vanthoor claimed honours at the Bathurst 12 Hours, winning alongside Robin Frijns and Stuart Leonard in the red-flagged race.[20][21]
Another year of double duties came that season, as Vanthoor partnered Stevens in the Sprint Cup, meanwhile his Endurance Cup teammates would be Christopher Mies and Alex Riberas.[22] The latter campaign began with a bang; the trio coming out victorious at Monza after Vanthoor overtook Christian Engelhart and Maximilian Götz during the final hour.[23][24] However, the squad ended up finishing seventh after they failed to score any further podiums that year.
The Sprint Cup season started with second place at Zolder, with Vanthoor losing the lead after being stuck in traffic on his in-lap.[25] During the second Zolder race, Vanthoor used the pit stop phase to briefly take the lead, before he was given a drive-through penalty for an improper pit exit.[26] At Brands Hatch, Vanthoor took pole and won ahead of the sister car in race 1, though he had to retire from race 2 with a rear wheel issue.[27][28][29] A further blow to the team's title chances occurred in Misano, where Stevens had to make an unscheduled stop to fix a loose wheel nut.[30] Race 2 in Misano yielded a second place, as did race 1 at the Nürburgring.[31][32] Vanthoor and Stevens therefore ended the campaign fourth in points.
Vanthoor also competed in the ADAC GT Masters that season, though he and Florian Spengler were unable to surpass a season-best eighth-placed race finish with the newly formed EFP by TECE team.[33]
2019
Audi and WRT remained Vanthoor's partners for the 2019 season, where he would compete in the Endurance and Sprint series, as well as racing for Montaplast by Land-Motorsport in the GT Masters.[34][35] The Belgian took three wins during the season: one in the ADAC GT Masters at Zandvoort alongside Ricardo Feller, another during the Sprint Cup round at Misano where he partnered Charles Weerts, and an overall victory at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, one Vanthoor and teammates Pierre Kaffer, Frank Stippler, and Fréd Vervisch achieved with Team Phoenix.[36]
2020
During a year heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Vanthoor partnered Charles Weerts in the youngster's sophomore season of sportscar racing.[37] The pair proved to be a fruitful one in the newly rebranded GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, where they won the championship after winning two races and achieving three further podiums.[38][39] They also drove in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, where two fourth places came to be their highest results.
In addition, Vanthoor returned to the ADAC GT Masters with WRT, where he and Weerts won at the season-opening Lausitzring round, leading from start to finish after Vanthoor had scored his first pole position in the category.[40][41]
2021
In 2021, Vanthoor and Weerts, who had gained Audi factory driver status over the winter, returned to contest a double campaign in the Endurance and Sprint cups.[42] A dominant title defense in the Sprint Cup followed, as the Belgians won the title with one event to spare, having taken four wins including a weekend sweep at Misano.[43][44][45] Their Endurance Cup season saw Vanthoor and Weerts embroiled in a four-way championship battle, with the duo scoring second places at Le Castellet, where Vanthoor passed Marco Mapelli on the final lap, and the 24 Hours of Spa, a race in which Vanthoor narrowly lost out on victory to Ferrari factory driver Alessandro Pier Guidi.[46][47] WRT ended up third overall in the standings, as a podium in Barcelona was not enough to overhaul the Iron Lynx squad which finished four points ahead.[48]
2022
Going into 2022, the Vanthoor-WRT partnership remained in the Endurance and Sprint cups for a seventh successive season together, as he and Weerts attempted to defend their Sprint Cup championship again.[49] The Sprint Cup campaign turned out to be their best yet: Vanthoor and Weerts won five of the ten races, took another double at Misano and only missed out on the podium once.[50] The pair won the title at the final round in Valencia, becoming the most successful pairing in the series's history.[51][52] In the Endurance Cup, less success would be found, as Vanthoor and Weerts finished eighth overall despite winning the opening round in Imola and scoring two pole positions.[53]
Vanthoor also garnered a win at the 6 Hours of Fuji alongside Robin Frijns and Sean Gelael as part of WRT's LMP2 lineup, where he, replacing René Rast, had made his second start in an Oreca 07 prototype, having competed with the team's third Le Mans entry earlier in the year.[54][55] In addition, Vanthoor won the 24 Hours of Nürburgring with Team Phoenix, having come out unscathed in a collision with his brother Laurens earlier in the race.[56][57]
At the end of the season, both Vanthoor and Weerts left Audi, soon announcing their moves to the BMW factory lineup.[58][59]
2023
The 2023 season would be Vanthoor's first sportscar campaign without driving a GT3 variant of the Audi R8, as his and WRT's Endurance and Sprint cup campaigns would be contested with a BMW M4 GT3.[60] Having defended his 2022 win of the Dubai 24 Hours at the start of the year, the Belgian entered the Sprint Cup together with Weerts and was joined by Sheldon van der Linde for the Endurance Cup.[61] The latter played out in a disappointing manner, as retirements at Paul Ricard and Spa resulted in the trio placing eleventh by season's end.[62][63] Vanthoor and Weerts would fare better in the Sprint Cup, where they won at Valencia and collected five further podiums to end the year third in points.[64]
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Hypercar career (2024–)
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2024
Ahead of the 2024 season, Vanthoor was confirmed to be joining the WRT-run BMW Hypercar programme, driving a BMW M Hybrid V8 in the FIA World Endurance Championship.[65] Vanthoor shared driving duties in the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 with Marco Wittmann and Raffaele Marciello. At the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans, Vanthoor managed to put the BMW on pole of the regular qualifying session. He subsequently participated to the Hyperpole, which included the 8 fastest cars from qualifying. Vanthoor crashed the car during the latter stages of the session meaning the car would start in 6th position. During the race, the car was trying to climb back after an early setback when Vanthoor went off due to contact with the race leading Ferrari driven by Robert Kubica, which was later penalised for the contact.
At the 2024 6 Hours of Fuji, Vanthoor and teammates Marciello and Wittmann took the M Hybrid to its first podium in FIA WEC, finishing in 2nd with the #15 after Vanthoor qualified in 3rd with the car.[66]
2025
At the 2025 24 Hours of Daytona, Vanthoor drove the M Hybrid to its first ever pole position, scoring the fastest lap in qualifying in the #24 car.[67] The #24 crew, consisting of Vanthoor, Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello, and Philipp Eng, were front-runners throughout all stages of the endurance race and were in contention for the overall race win against both IMSA GTP entries from Porsche Penske Motorsport and Meyer Shank Racing's Acura ARX-06. At the final hour, the #24 experienced an issue with its nose which slowly deteriorated the car's condition by each passing lap. After attempting to stay out to remain in contention for the race win, Vanthoor was ultimately forced to pit for repairs as the car's condition worsened to a point in which the car could not continue further.[68] This led to a 4th-place finish for him and his teammates.[69]
Other motorsports
Formula E
In May 2024, Vanthoor was invited to take part in the Formula E Berlin rookie test with Envision Racing.[70]
Racing record
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Career summary
* Season still in progress † Guest driver ineligible to score points
Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† As Vanthoor was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points
Complete GT World Challenge Europe results
GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup
* Season still in progress.
Complete Intercontinental GT Challenge results
* Season still in progress.
Complete 24 Hours of Spa results
Complete 24 Hours of Nürburgring results
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
Bathurst 12 Hours results
Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete 24 Hours of Zolder results
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References
External links
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