Charles Weerts (born 1 March 2001) is a Belgian racing driver who currently competes in the

GT World Challenge Europe GT World Challenge Europe (known as the Blancpain GT Series between 2014 and 2019) is a sports car racing series organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It features grand tourer racing cars modified from production road cars complying with the FIA's G ...

. On December 8 2022 Weerts was announced as a factory driver for BMW M Motorsport where he'll continue to drive for

Team WRT W Racing Team (WRT) is a Belgian auto racing team founded in 2009 by engineer and former head of Volkswagen Motorsport René Verbist, racing driver Vincent Vosse, and entrepreneur Yves Weerts. Since 2010 the team campaigns Audi R8 LMSs in severa ...

Career

Junior formula

Weerts made his single-seater debut in 2017, joining Team Motopark for the 2017 ADAC Formula 4 season, alongside the final three races of the

Formula 4 UAE Championship Starting in the 2016–17 season, the all new Formula 4 UAE Championship was launched by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, and its national affiliate the Automobile & Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates (ATCUAE), who acted as t ...

. During the 2017 ADAC F4 season, he would score 22nd in the overall classification and second in the Rookie Championship, scoring just three points towards the drivers' title. The following Formula 4 UAE season, Weerts was crowned series champion, sweeping the final quadruple-header round at

Dubai Autodrome The Dubai Autodrome is an FIA sanctioned motorsports circuit located in Dubailand, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The architects of the project were Populous and the circuit was designed by Clive Bowen of Apex Circuit Design. Opened in October ...

en route to a 50-point points lead over second-placed David Schumacher. However, the victory would mark Weerts' final season with Team Motopark, as he would switch to

Van Amersfoort Racing Van Amersfoort Racing is an auto racing team based in the Netherlands. In 2022 the team competes in the Formula 2 Championship, the Formula 3 Championship, the Formula Regional European Championship, Euroformula Open Championship, Italian F4 Cha ...

for the 2018 ADAC Formula 4 season. After finishing 5th in points, securing one win and four podiums, Weerts would leave the team at the conclusion of the 2018 season.

Sports cars

2019 saw Weerts explore a new discipline of motorsport, joining Belgian Audi Club Team WRT for the

2019 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup The 2019 GT Series Endurance Cup (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2019 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup)was the ninth season of the GT Series Endurance Cup. The season began on 14 April at Monza and ended on 29 September in Barcelona. The s ...

campaign. After a lackluster 2019 season which saw Weerts' entries score a solitary point across five races, he was paired with

Dries Vanthoor Dries Vanthoor (born 20 April 1998 in Heusden-Zolder) is a racing driver from Belgium. He currently competes in the GT World Challenge Europe and ADAC GT Masters for Audi. He is the younger brother of Laurens, and was the winner of the 2018 Ba ...

for full season campaigns in both series during 2020. After scoring two wins and six podiums in 10 races, Vanthoor and Weerts claimed the Sprint Cup title in the Pro category. Following his title, Weerts was promoted to

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...

factory driver status for 2021. He began the team's title defense on a high note, taking pole for the opening race of the weekend at

Magny-Cours Magny-Cours () is a Communes of France, commune in the Nièvre Departments of France, department in central France. It is the home of the ''Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours'', a famous Motorsport#Motor racing, motor racing circuit (whose name is of ...

, before going on to win Saturday's event, further adding a podium finish the following afternoon. Following the fourth round at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

, Weerts and Vanthoor successfully defended their Sprint Cup title. In 2022 Weerts, together with Vanthoor were able to clinch a third consecutive Sprint Cup title. They finished the season with 5 wins and 9 podiums in 10 races.

BMW M Factory Driver

At the end of the 2022 season Weerts confirmed he would part ways with

Audi Sport {{Commons category, World Rally Championship teams World Rally Championship, Teams Auto racing teams by series ...

and was later announced as a factory

BMW M BMW M GmbH, formerly known as BMW Motorsport GmbH, is a subsidiary of BMW, BMW AG that manufactures high-performance cars. BMW M ("M" for "motorsport") was initially created to facilitate BMW's racing program, which was very successful in the ...

driver from the 2023 season on. He was joined by his current teammate

and

, both making the switch from Audi as well. In his first race as an official BMW factory driver, the 2023

Kyalami 9 Hours The Nine Hours of Kyalami is an endurance sports car race contested at Kyalami, Midrand, South Africa. The first races were held from 1958 to 1960 at a circuit at the Grand Central Airport near Midrand before moving to Kyalami in 1961. The even ...

, Weerts scored the overall victory alongside Vanthoor and

Sheldon van der Linde Sheldon van der Linde (born 13 May 1999) is a South African motor racing driver. He has been competing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters since 2019 and is currently the DTM champion, after winning his maiden title in 2022. Career van der Lind ...

. Weerts once again embarked on a full-season GT World Challenge Europe campaign. Weerts stated his ambitions to remain on top in the Sprint Cup, but argued that the change in machinery for 2023 ensured that the team's efforts to score a fourth consecutive title wouldn't be easy.

Racing record

Career summary

^† As Weerts was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
^* Season still in progress.

Complete ADAC Formula 4 Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete GT World Challenge Europe results

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup

^* Season still in progress.

GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup

^* Season still in progress.

References

External links

Charles Weerts
at W Racing Team {{DEFAULTSORT:Weerts, Charles 2001 births Living people Belgian racing drivers ADAC Formula 4 drivers Italian F4 Championship drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers Sportspeople from Verviers Audi Sport drivers Motopark Academy drivers Van Amersfoort Racing drivers W Racing Team drivers Karting World Championship drivers 21st-century Belgian people BMW M drivers UAE F4 Championship drivers Le Mans Cup drivers