ROWE Racing has announced that it will field a single BMW M6 GT3 this weekend for the Blancpain Sprint Cup’s trip to the Hungaroring, after damage sustained from an incident during the six-hour VLN race last weekend left the team unable to repair the #99 M6 in time.

Thankfully, BMW works driver Philipp Eng came away from the crash on the Nordschleife, with just a few bruises and will return to the cockpit thes weekend and switch to the #98 M6 to race with Markus Palttala. The change means that Jesse Krohn – who normally pilots the #98 – and Antonio Felix da Costa will not race.

“It is a great shame for the whole team that we were only able to travel to Budapest with one car,” said ROWE Racing team principal Hans-Peter Naundorf. “However, our #99 car was unfortunately so badly damaged in the big crash on the Nordschleife that it was impossible to repair the car in just two days. For this reason, our regular Blancpain driver Philipp Eng, who fortunately survived the crash with little more than a few bruises, will switch car and go in pursuit of points alongside Markus Palttala in the #98 BMW M6 GT3.

“We hope that the BoP is more favourable to us this year, and that we can have a say in the race for the top-ten positions. Budapest is definitely worth the trip, as the city is beautiful and the Hungarian fans are very enthusiastic.

“The track is very demanding and really puts the drivers through their paces, particularly when it is hot, which it is forecast to be again this weekend. However, the air conditioning in our car means our drivers will still be able to keep a cool head.”

The one-hour Qualifying Race on Saturday is scheduled to begin at 15:50, ahead of the main race, at 14:20 on Sunday, local time.

Featured image courtesy of ROWE Racing