Dries Vanthoor Bio
Dries Vanthoor, born on 20 April 1998 in Heusden-Zolder, Limburg, Belgium, is a Belgian racing driver currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with BMW M Team WRT. A former Audi factory driver, Vanthoor has built a reputation as one of the most successful GT3 competitors of his generation, with major endurance wins in Australia and Germany, as well as a streak of consecutive European sprint titles. He is the younger brother of Porsche factory driver Laurens Vanthoor.
Early Life and Background
Dries Vanthoor was born and raised in Heusden-Zolder, a town in the Limburg province of Belgium with a deep tradition in motorsport. Growing up in a racing household, he was surrounded by the sport from a young age, following in the footsteps of his older brother Laurens, who would go on to become a Porsche factory driver and a familiar face in top-level sportscar racing.
Vanthoor began his competitive career in karting, a discipline he pursued seriously until 2014. Through karting, he developed the race craft and car control that would later define his transition to closed-cockpit and prototype machinery. In 2015, he stepped up to junior single-seater racing, joining Josef Kaufmann Racing in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup, where he scored a win at Assen and a podium at the Nürburgring on his way to sixth in the standings.
Path to Endurance Racing
For the 2016 season, Vanthoor switched to sportscar racing, joining Belgian Audi Club Team WRT in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and Sprint Cup. Sharing driving duties with Frédéric Vervisch, and joined by his brother Laurens in the endurance championship, the rookie scored two podiums in the Endurance Cup and finished eighth overall. That same year, he also won the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in the Cup 5 class with Bonk Motorsport and made his prototype debut with a second place at the 4 Hours of Spa in the European Le Mans Series.
The move to GT racing paid off quickly. In 2017, he won two Sprint Cup races at the Hungaroring and, after a qualifying lap record in the LMGTE Am class, dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans to claim overall victory with Will Stevens and Rob Smith. By the end of that year, Audi Sport confirmed that Vanthoor would join its factory driver roster from 2018 onwards, a promotion that launched his rise to the top of international GT racing.
Dries Vanthoor Career
Early Career (2016-2017)
Vanthoor’s transition from karting and junior formula to GT racing came with Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, where he impressed immediately. His 2016 campaign included a breakthrough Endurance Cup debut, a Nürburgring 24 Hours class win, and a podium in the European Le Mans Series, all in his first full season of sportscar competition.
The following year confirmed his potential. Sprint Cup victories at the Hungaroring were followed by a commanding 24 Hours of Le Mans triumph in LMGTE Am, a result that caught the attention of Audi’s factory program. By the end of 2017, Vanthoor was officially elevated to Audi factory driver status, setting the stage for a long run of GT3 success with Team WRT.
GT World Challenge Europe Breakthrough (2018-2020)
As an Audi factory driver, Vanthoor opened 2018 with a victory at the Bathurst 12 Hours alongside Robin Frijns and Stuart Leonard. He added an Endurance Cup win at Monza, where he overtook Christian Engelhart and Maximilian Götz in the final hour, and finished fourth in the Sprint Cup standings with teammate Will Stevens.
In 2019, he captured an overall victory at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring with Team Phoenix, sharing driving duties with Pierre Kaffer, Frank Stippler, and Frédéric Vervisch. He also won an ADAC GT Masters round at Zandvoort and a Sprint Cup race at Misano alongside Charles Weerts, the start of a partnership that would quickly become one of the most successful in GT racing.
That partnership bore immediate fruit in 2020. Paired with Weerts in the rebranded GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, the duo won the championship with two wins and three additional podiums during a season heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pair also won together in the ADAC GT Masters at the Lausitzring, where Vanthoor scored his first pole in the category.
WRT and Audi Era (2021-2022)
Now both Audi factory drivers, Vanthoor and Weerts continued their dominance in 2021. They defended the Sprint Cup title with one event to spare, winning four races including a clean sweep at Misano. In the Endurance Cup, the Belgians finished third overall after a tight championship battle with Iron Lynx, marked by a last-lap pass on Marco Mapelli at Le Castellet and a narrow defeat to Alessandro Pier Guidi at the 24 Hours of Spa.
The 2022 season was their most successful in the Sprint Cup, with five wins from ten races, another Misano double, and a title clinched at the final round in Valencia, making them the most successful pairing in the series’ history. Vanthoor also won the 6 Hours of Fuji in an LMP2 Oreca 07 with Robin Frijns and Sean Gelael, and added a second 24 Hours of Nürburgring overall win with Team Phoenix. At season’s end, both Vanthoor and Weerts left Audi, announcing a switch to BMW’s factory lineup for 2023.
BMW M Team WRT Era (2023-Present)
Switching to the BMW M4 GT3 with WRT in 2023, Vanthoor defended his 2022 win at the Dubai 24 Hours, scored a Sprint Cup victory at Valencia, and added five more podiums to finish third in points. His Endurance Cup campaign was more difficult, with retirements at Paul Ricard and Spa leaving the No. 31 BMW eleventh in the standings.
In 2024, Vanthoor stepped up to the Hypercar ranks, joining WRT’s BMW M Hybrid V8 program in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Sharing the No. 15 with Marco Wittmann and Raffaele Marciello, he put the car on pole at the 24 Hours of Le Mans qualifying, and later guided the team to its first WEC podium with second place at the 6 Hours of Fuji. In May 2024, he also sampled a Formula E car at the Berlin rookie test with Envision Racing.
Driving Style and Strengths
Vanthoor is known for his calm temperament in long-distance events, his tire management over stints, and his consistency in traffic. He has built a strong working relationship with Charles Weerts, with the two forming a highly effective driver pairing, and he has adapted quickly to prototype machinery after years in GT3 cars, a sign of the versatility that has defined his career.
Notable Races and Milestones
His biggest wins include the 2018 Bathurst 12 Hours, back-to-back 24 Hours of Nürburgring overall victories in 2019 and 2022, and the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMGTE Am. He has also added the Dubai 24 Hours, multiple Sprint Cup titles, and Hypercar class milestones, including a WEC podium at Fuji and an outright pole at the 2025 24 Hours of Daytona.
Dries Vanthoor Career Wins
Across GT3 and endurance racing, Dries Vanthoor has built a varied trophy cabinet, with major victories in Australia, Germany, France, and the United Arab Emirates, complemented by three consecutive GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup titles from 2020 to 2022.
GT World Challenge Europe Highlights
In the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, Vanthoor and Charles Weerts claimed three straight titles between 2020 and 2022, including a record-breaking 2022 campaign in which they won five of ten races and clinched the championship at the final round in Valencia. They have also added Sprint Cup race wins at the Hungaroring, Misano, Valencia, and Zolder across the partnership.
Other Wins and Performances
Beyond the Sprint Cup, Vanthoor has won the 2018 Bathurst 12 Hours, the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMGTE Am, the 2019 and 2022 24 Hours of Nürburgring overall, the Dubai 24 Hours with WRT, and the 6 Hours of Fuji in an LMP2 Oreca 07. He has also taken race wins in the ADAC GT Masters at Zandvoort and the Lausitzring, as well as a runner-up finish in the 2016 European Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Spa.
Dries Vanthoor Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Dries Vanthoor comes from a Belgian racing family and is the younger brother of Laurens Vanthoor, a Porsche factory driver and long-time WEC competitor. The two have shared cars and championships at WRT and have occasionally raced head-to-head, notably at the 2022 24 Hours of Nürburgring, where contact between the brothers cut short one of their runs.
Personal Life
Vanthoor is Belgian by nationality and was raised in Heusden-Zolder, where much of his early karting took place. Public information about his personal and family life beyond his brother Laurens is limited.
2025 Season Performance
The 2025 season began with a strong statement from Vanthoor at the 24 Hours of Daytona, where he qualified the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid on outright pole and was in contention for the overall win through every stage of the race. A deteriorating nose section in the final hour forced an unscheduled pit stop, dropping the crew of Vanthoor, Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello, and Philipp Eng to fourth at the flag.
Alongside his IMSA program, Vanthoor continues to share the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8 in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Marco Wittmann and Raffaele Marciello. The BMW Hypercar effort is targeting regular podiums and a first overall WEC win, building on the Fuji podium secured at the end of 2024.
With the BMW M Hybrid V8 program maturing and a deep driver lineup at WRT, Vanthoor enters the middle of 2025 as a genuine contender in both the WEC and IMSA GTP ranks. The Daytona result, despite the late setback, underlined the pace of the BMW platform and hinted at further milestones to come.
