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BMW squad Rowe switches allegiance to Porsche

Rowe Racing will switch allegiance from BMW to Porsche for its factory campaign in the 2019 Blancpain GT Series.

Rowe Racing livery

Rowe Racing livery

The German team, which won the Spa 24 Hours as a factory-supported BMW team in 2016, will field one of Porsche's new-spec 911 GT3-Rs in the five-race Blancpain Endurance Cup and an additional car at Spa in July. 

Both cars will be raced by a roster of factory Porsche drivers.

Established Porsche driver Dirk Werner will be joined by 'young professionals' Matt Campbell and Dennis Olsen in the full-season entry, a line-up that was announced last December.

Le Mans 24 Hours winner Nick Tandy will drive the Spa entry together with his IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship teammate Patrick Pilet and Frederic Makowiecki. 

Rowe team principal Hans-Peter Naundorf said: "It is a real honour for us that such a renowned manufacturer as Porsche that enjoys great success in motorsport is placing their trust in our team to compete with the latest generation of the 911 GT3-R.

"We not only have an extremely competitive race car, but also get to work with first-class Porsche drivers, whose successes speak for themselves."

Porsche announced in December at its annual prize-giving that it will field two factory cars in the Blancpain Endurance Cup this year after entering a solo old-spec 911 GT3-R with Manthey Racing last season. 

The second car will be driven by Romain Dumas, Sven Muller and Mathieu Jaminet, another 'young professional' for a team that has yet to be confirmed. 

The news from Rowe comes after it was linked to a DTM entry as a BMW customer team late last year. 

Rowe Racing ran factory-supported BMW M6 GT3s in the Blancpain GT Series in 2016-18 after making the switch from Mercedes, and its driver line-up last year included a revolving roster of works drivers. 

#99 ROWE Racing BMW M6 GT3: Philipp Eng, Tom Blomqvist

#99 ROWE Racing BMW M6 GT3: Philipp Eng, Tom Blomqvist

Photo by: Jan Brucke/VLN

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