News

Rob Bell will contest the full Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS programme during 2022, returning as part of an all-Pro entry with British sportscar team JOTA. Rob will compete alongside Ollie Wilkinson in the Sprint events, with Marvin Kirchhöfer joining the pair for the Endurance calendar as part of an all-McLaren Factory Driver effort.

Confirmation of the full season entry sees Rob return to challenge for overall championship honours for the first time since 2017. He will run in the newly liveried green, red and black #38 McLaren 720S GT3 run by the highly-experienced JOTA outfit across the full 10-race calendar which kicks off with the opening Endurance event in Imola at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Italy over the weekend of 1-3 April.

Rob will be looking to build on JOTA’s debut GT World Challenge Europe season last time out. In 2021, he and his teammates scored the best-ever result for McLaren at the season’s headline event, finishing 7th at the TotalEnergies Spa 24 Hour. The Endurance Cup driver line-up will return to the Belgian circuit in July, with the race calendar also visiting Circuit Paul Ricard, Hockenheim and concluding in Barcelona. Rob will return to compete on home soil when the Sprint campaign begins at Brands Hatch at the end of April before visiting Magny-Cours, Zandvoort, Misano and Valencia.

The 2022 season sees the start of Rob’s 11th consecutive season racing with McLaren, during which time he has claimed race victories and podiums across the globe. Among his successes in Europe, Rob won the GT World Challenge Europe title - under its previous title of the Blancpain GT Series - during 2016 season. He is now looking to return to the podium running alongside Ollie for a third season, and the newly recruited Marvin Kirchhöfer completes the exciting line-up.

Rob Bell –

“It is great to be back with JOTA and to be fighting for the overall Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS championship honours. We made some real progress last season, with the result at Spa as a real highlight, and the 720S GT3 is going from strength to strength. It has already proved itself on the endurance stage this year taking overall honours at the Asian Le Mans Series, so we will be looking to build on this momentum and the positive steps we have made during preseason testing. We have come a long way over the last 10 seasons since I joined McLaren, and now running with JOTA, Ollie, Marvin, and with the 720S GT3, I feel we are in as good a position as ever to challenge for some strong results throughout the season.”

2022 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup

16-18 April
Imola, Italy

30 April-1 May
Brands Hatch, UK

13-15 May
Magny-Cours, France

3-5 June
Circuit Paul Ricard 1,000km, France

17-19 June
Zandvoort, Netherlands

1-3 July
Misano, Italy

28-31 July
Total Energies 24 Hours of Spa, Belgium
 
2-4 September
Hockenheim, Germany

16-18 September
Valencia, Spain

30 September-2 October
Barcelona, Spain