The Danish-German youngster started his third season with Team WRT in GT World Challenge Europe last weekend in Imola with a whole new set of teammates. This year he is sharing the #30 ROFGO Racing liveried Audi R8 LMS EVOII with Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer (21) and Thomas Neubauer (22) in the Endurance Cup rounds.
The young trio started by showing great pace in the practice sessions leading up to the Qualifying where they secured P7 on the 18-car Silver Cup grid.
Benji was chosen to take the start of the 3 Hours race just one day after celebrating his 19th birthday, and he wasn’t startled by the record 52-car grid he had to face. He made a superb getaway and began to carve his way through the field. He was setting purple sectors in the opening laps and he soon found himself in P6 after a spectacular move on the Mercedes ahead. The eldest ROFGO Junior continued his flawless charge, showing excellent race craft, and moved all the way up to second place before passing the wheel to Jean-Baptiste at the 1-hour mark.
Simmenauer picked up right where Benji left off and managed to fend off the pressure from behind. After a superb pitstop by the WRT crew, Thomas took the class lead and following an impeccable stint, he brought the car home in first place.
With this win, the #30 squad is now leading the Silver Cup standings.
Benjamin Goethe:
“Great way to kick off the season. P1 at the first race is the perfect way to start and something we can build on. We will work hard to carry on this pace for the next race. Big thanks to JB and Thomas for the amazing job, and to the team and Audi for providing us with a great car.”
Jamie Campbell-Walter:
“I am really proud of Benji and he`s done a fantastic job all weekend. He was consistently fast and showed really strong race craft. This win has been a long time coming, but I can tell, this is just the first of many.”
The GT World Challenge Europe season continues with the first Sprint Cup round in Brands Hatch on April 30 – May 1.
