BMW M TEAM WRT KICKS OFF 2025 FIA WEC SEASON WITH STRONG PERFORMANCE IN QATAR

BMW M TEAM WRT KICKS OFF 2025 FIA WEC SEASON WITH STRONG PERFORMANCE IN QATAR

11/03/2025

The highly anticipated opening round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship saw BMW M Team WRT and Team WRT launch their second season in the series with a competitive showing at Lusail International Circuit. Against a stacked 36-car grid featuring 13 manufacturers, the team fielded four entries—two BMW M Hybrid V8s in the Hypercar class and two BMW M4 GT3 EVOs in LMGT3. After an intense 10-hour battle, the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 finished just off the podium in P4, less than 10 seconds from victory, while the #20 sister car secured P7. In LMGT3, #31 The Bend Team WRT finished P3, giving the BMW M4 GT3 EVO its debut podium in the FIA WEC, while the #46 car crossed the line in P11.

RACE HIGHLIGHTS

Hypercar: P4 and P7 in a hard-fought battle at the front

• Strong qualifying effort - Robin Frijns (#20) and Dries Vanthoor (#15) secured P4 and P5 in qualifying, before Vanthoor went on to claim a front-row start in Hyperpole,P2, with Frijns finishing P6.
• Early drama for #15 - After a clean start, a pit speed limiter issue during a Full Course Yellow restart caused #15 to drop six positions. The car later required a nose change and a drive-through penalty, hampering its winning efforts.
• Consistent performance for #20 - The #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8, driven by Frijns, Rast, and van der Linde, remained in podium contention for much of the race before ultimately finishing P7.
• Pushing to the end - The #15 machine, piloted by Magnussen, Marciello, and Vanthoor, fought back impressively to finish just off the podium in P4. Vanthoor crossed the line less than 10 seconds behind the race-winner, underlining the team's competitive pace throughout the race.

LMGT3: Podium finish for The Bend Team WRT

• Impressive climb for #31 - Yasser Shahin, Timur Boguslavskiy, and Augusto Farfus worked their way through the field after a P14 start. A well-executed fuel strategy helped the car move up the order, securing a P3 class finish—a strong start to the season for The Bend Team WRT.
• Tougher race for #46 - Valentino Rossi, Ahmad Al Harthy, and Kelvin van der Linde showed solid pace early on but were hit with ​ penalties for track limits violations. The #46 car ultimately finished P11 in class.

Next up for Team WRT

With a solid start to its 2025 season—already securing three victories in three races before this FIA WEC opener in Qatar—Team WRT now turns its focus to the first round of the GT World Challenge season, scheduled for April 12th at Circuit Paul Ricard. The team will announce its driver line-ups for the series in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, preparation for the next round of the FIA WEC is already underway, with an intense month of testing across Europe throughout March as the team continues to push forward.

QUOTES

Vincent VOSSE, Team Principal Team WRT: “Looking at where we were in Qatar one year ago, this was a very big improvement. We can all be proud of this achievement. Not being on the podium in the end with our Hypercar is a bit tough, but the Ferraris were hard to catch. The guys did an incredible job, and we take this good result home with us. Of course we want more, but we have scored good points here. In LMGT3 we had a difficult weekend and not the fastest car, but still finishing on the podium with the #31 car is very positive. The #46 seemed to lose a bit of speed during the race. We must analyse, why!”

Timur BOGUSLAVSKIY, driver #31: “At the end, we achieved a podium. I think the team did a very good job and we deserved it. I am very happy to get my first podium in the FIA WEC. It has been a nice start to the season to be on the podium and to collect vital points. I hope we will be even stronger at Imola and win there!”

Yasser SHAHIN, driver #31: “It has been a remarkably interesting week. At the Prologue it gave us some sort of confidence and then all of a sudden, when we came back for free practice, the track had changed significantly. It was a very important race for driver chemistry, because we all got to know each other, and for team chemistry. I’m thrilled to be part of this team because the quality of execution is exactly what I was hoping for, hopefully I played my part today and the result exceeded our expectations.”

Augusto FARFUS, driver #31: “When you see where we started and where we ended the race – no one would have predicted that. This shows what a great team we have behind us and what a great lineup because we executed it perfectly. Being able to take home a podium just feels like a victory. After qualifying we could not expect this result. P3 gives us good hope that we can keep the momentum.”

Kelvin VAN DER LINDE, driver #46: “It is frustrating to end the race outside the top 10. Within the team and driver line up, we have so much potential. For some reason, we were lacking on pace compared to the sister car, which the team will investigate as soon as possible, and we need to put the penalties behind us. We must accept what we are given, and we will regroup and move forward going into Imola.”

Dries VANTHOOR, driver #15: “After starting second, P4 is maybe not the result we had hoped for, but I think we did not have the cleanest of races, also from my side. Without that we probably had a shot of fighting for P3 even though the Ferraris were untouchable this weekend. They were flying in every session, so it was very difficult to beat them. This was already clear from the beginning. I think we can be happy with P4 and at the end we are, we just need to do a clean execution, including myself. And I think we can be happy with the improvements we made compared to last year. Back then, we got lapped three times in one or two hours and now, we are in P4. It shows that the car is fast now, and we have improved a lot. We are still not there; it clearly shows that we are still not the fastest, so we need to keep improving.”

Kevin MAGNUSSEN, driver #15: “Very happy! It is the best result we could have done with the pace we had. I still think we could execute the race better, but the good thing is that the pitstops and the strategy were very good. The team did a very good job. We just had a few hiccups that we will certainly solve them. BMW and Team WRT had definitely made a big step with the car which is very nice to see!”

Sheldon VAN DER LINDE, driver #20: “It was not bad at all. We can be really happy with the progress we made in one year. When you look where we were last year, both cars out of the top ten, with no real chance to fight any other car on track, we have made a huge step forward. And I think we can be really proud of BMW M Motorsport for giving us a car we can properly race with; it has really been a huge step from their side. Drivability has improved a lot, and it allows us to really race other cars now. It is a good feeling as a driver because you are feeling that you are also doing a better job as a driver.”