Nurturing young racing talent has been one of the cornerstones of BMW M Motorsport’s programme for decades. Most recently, BMW Junior Team made waves in GT racing for several years, nurturing Dan Harper, Max Hesse, and Neil Verhagen into BMW M works drivers. They now join forces with Charles Weerts to form the group born after the turn of the millennium. For the 2024 season, BMW M Motorsport has given them a name and a new logo: Gen2K.
Munich. Nurturing young racing talent has been one of the cornerstones of BMW M Motorsport’s programme for decades. Most recently, BMW Junior Team made waves in GT racing for several years, nurturing talents such as Dan Harper (GBR), Max Hesse (GER), and Neil Verhagen (USA) into accomplished BMW M works drivers. In a high-profile line-up, they join forces with Charles Weerts (BEL) to form the group born after the turn of the millennium. For the 2024 season, BMW M Motorsport has given them a name and a new logo: Gen2K.
“Generation 2000”, comprising the three members of the BMW Junior Team and Weerts, who has already achieved numerous successes in GT racing at a young age with Team WRT in recent years, embodies BMW M Motorsport’s approach to infuse its line-up with not only experience but also youthful dynamism making it as versatile as possible.
The Gen2K racing programme is also diverse. Harper, Hesse, and Weerts will contest the 24 Hours of Nürburgring (GER) in June in the BMW M Team RMG BMW M4 GT3. While Harper and Hesse have grown up on the Nordschleife as part of their training and have contested many races there, Weerts will make his debut at the endurance classic in the Eifel region. The trio will hit the track for the first time in the BMW M4 GT3 this coming weekend during test sessions ahead of the start of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NES) season.
Moreover, all three drivers will compete in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, albeit for different teams. Harper and Hesse for ROWE Racing, Weerts for BMW M Team WRT. Additionally, Hesse will undertake race outings for BMW Team Italia Ceccato Racing in the Italian GT Championship, while Harper will participate in selected events of the British GT Championship, where he clinched the driver’s title in 2023. Verhagen will contest the entire season of the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS for ST Racing in North America, as well as the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races for Paul Miller Racing.
Beyond their race commitments, there will be joint events with the Gen2K members, and they may also serve as mentors for an even younger generation of motorsport talent, leveraging their experience gained during their training. Details regarding this will be announced at a later date. Just like with the BMW Junior Team, BMW M Motorsport legend Jochen Neerpasch will mentor Gen2K. The Gen2K logo will accompany the drivers on their racing suits as well as on vehicles.
Quotes about the Gen2K:
Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “We are generally very proud of our line-up of BMW M works drivers, but particularly proud of its diversity. Our drivers hail from twelve different nations, spanning ages from 23 to 55 years old, nine of them are younger than 30. To have four drivers born in the year 2000 and later who already have several years of experience at the highest level is remarkable. Added to that, we have international champions like Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor, who are only slightly older than the Gen2K drivers. This forward-thinking line-up is impressive.”
Dan Harper: “Being part of the new Gen2K sounds very cool! It’s great to see how many young drivers BMW M Motorsport has in its line-up and how fast they are. I’m excited to see what lies ahead for me. Furthermore, I’m very much looking forward to competing for the fourth time with BMW M Team RMG on the Nordschleife. Charles is new to the team and will be tackling the 24-hour race in a GT3 car for the first time, but I’m sure he has the optimal crew by his side to quickly find his speed.”
Max Hesse: “The Gen2K concept from BMW M Motorsport sounds awesome, and the logo looks cool! I’m very excited to be a part of it. Getting to start again on the Nordschleife with BMW M Team RMG is great. The team led by Stefan Reinhold has been doing a fantastic job for years. Now it’s time to reward that effort with a strong result at the 24-hour race. With Charles, we’ve already spent some days together in the race simulator and get along very well. Testing on the track starts this coming weekend, and I can hardly wait.”
Charles Weerts: “The fact that an iconic brand like BMW M Motorsport has some young works drivers in its line-up shows their confidence in youth and their vision for the future of racing. For me, it’s a great experience to be a part of it. I’m particularly looking forward to the new challenge of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring on this iconic track. I’ll give it my all and can’t wait to start working with BMW M Team RMG.”
Neil Verhagen: “The fact that I - just like Dan and Max - am now entering my fifth season with BMW M Motorsport demonstrates how much the brand cares about nurturing young drivers. I’m very proud to be a works driver for a brand with such deep motorsport roots and look forward to representing BMW M Motorsport again in the upcoming season.”
