Max Verstappen has announced an expanded presence in the GT3 arena for his sim racing proteges.
The Verstappen.com Racing Team Redline esports squad will continue to support Thierry Vermeulen, son Max’s manager Raymond, and also give Briton Chris Lulham a full programme in the GT World Challenge Europe.
Lulham will race with Vermeulen in both the Endurance Cup and Sprint Cup legs of the GTWCE.
They will drive an Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 in the short-format races and an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for 2 Seas Motorsport together with Porsche Supercup frontrunner Harry King in the enduros.
Lulham will be undertaking only his second full season of car racing in 2025.
The 21-year-old contested one weekend in the British Formula 4 Championship with Fortec in 2019 before returning to the tracks last year in the Radical Cup, dominating the SR3 Pro division.
He has become a key member of the Verstappen/Redline esports squad, his successes including victory in the iRacing Nurburgring 24 Hours last year as part of a line-up including Verstappen.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB21
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
The announcement from Verstappen.com Racing stated that Lulham had been “handpicked” to make what it called a “significant step”.
Verstappen said: “It has always been my dream to support young drivers and for a while now, I have been trying to create the possibility of a sim driver to progress to real world racing.
“With Chris Lulham, now being promoted from Team Redline sim racing to our GT3 Sprint and Endurance racing, teaming up with Thierry Vermeulen, who has been competing for Verstappen.com Racing for a few years now, we take it to the next step.”
Lulham added: “It is a really exciting prospect and I can’t wait to get started. We already had a very thorough and busy off-season preparing for what is coming. It is an unbelievable chance and I can’t wait to make the most out of this opportunity.”
Verstappen’s increased involvement in GT3 racing for this year could be interpreted as the next step towards becoming a team owner in the GT ranks, an ambition he outlined last summer.
He tested the 2 Seas Aston at Paul Ricard over the winter as part of the preparations for 2025.
Vermeulen will also remain in the DTM with the Emil Frey team for a third season.
In this article
Gary Watkins
GT World Challenge Europe Sprint
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
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