BMW confirms attracting Robin Frijns, leaves ABT in Formula E
Mediabank Formula E
General
- Ludo van Denderen
Confirmed: as GPblog reported recently, Robin Frijns is one of BMW's factory drivers with immediate effect. At least for the German marque, he will test the hypercar ahead of the 2024 World Endurance Championship(WEC). It is only a matter of time before BMW and Frijns announce that the Dutchman will participate in this championship with Team WRT, which will race the Germans' hypercars.
For Frijns, it means a return to the brand with which he celebrated successes earlier in his career. He started his motorsport career in Formula BMW and won the 2010 European title there. Frijns is happy about his return: "It is fantastic to return to BMW M Motorsport after so many years – the place it all started for me in Formula BMW Europe. I am looking forward to the new challenges, which will include being part of the test programme for the WEC entry in 2024 with the BMW M Hybrid V8."
BMW director happy with Frijns
This season, the BMW made a successful debut in IMSA - the American counterpart of WEC. There, the car won the six hours of Watkins Glen on behalf of Rahal's team. Expectations for its entry into WEC are huge, but BMW does not want to anticipate that at the moment. First of all, they are happy that Frijns has been contracted, states Andreas Roos, head of motorsport at BMW: "With his versatility and wealth of experience in prototype racing, Robin Frijns is a fantastic addition to our squad of works drivers. He will initially be involved in the test programme with the BMW M Hybrid V8 for WEC. He knows the team and the race series very well and can certainly make a valuable contribution to a successful preparation for the 2024 season."
"A glance at his previous successes shows that Frijns is also an extremely good GT driver. However, we will make a decision regarding any possible race outings at a later date. First of all, we are very pleased to have him with us in the BMW M Motorsport family," said Roos. Besides an expected adventure in the hypercar during the WEC, Frijns is also likely to return in Formula E. Last season, he drove for ABT Cupra. With that team, he is leaving for good. Frijns is likely to return to Envision, which took the constructors' title last season.