Second win of the season, championship lead, and a podium in the LMGT3 class: the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) in São Paulo was a triumph for BMW M Motorsport and BMW M Team WRT. In the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello, and Dries Vanthoor celebrated their first victory in the FIA WEC. For BMW M Team WRT, it was its second triumph of the season following its one-two finish at Spa-Francorchamps. The #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8 finished eighth after a strong comeback, allowing Robin Frijns and René Rast to reclaim the lead in the drivers’ championship. In the LMGT3 class, Dan Harper, Parker Thompson, and Anthony McIntosh returned to the LMGT3 podium for the first time since their season-opening win at Imola, finishing second.
The #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 started the six-hour race from fourth on the grid. However, starting driver Magnussen quickly moved up to second place, putting the crew in a promising position in the fight for victory. After the final round of pit stops, closing driver Vanthoor was in the lead, which he defended all the way to the finish. After a disappointing qualifying, the Spa-Francorchamps winners and Le Mans runners-up – Robin Frijns, René Rast, and Sheldon van der Linde – started from only 16th place. Thanks to flawless performances and a strong strategy, however, the trio fought their way up to sixth position. This result was enough for Frijns and Rast to reclaim the lead in the drivers’ standings with 75 points. In the manufacturers’ standings, BMW M Motorsport is now second with 127 points, just five points behind Toyota.
In the LMGT3 class, Team WRT was able to celebrate again after two disappointing races. In the #69 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Harper, Thompson, and McIntosh moved up from fourth on the grid to finish second, securing their second podium of the season after their triumph at Imola. In the #32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Augusto Farfus, together with Sean Gelael and Darren Leung, finished twelfth at his home race.
An incredible weekend here in Brazil. Congratulations to the #15 crew on a well-deserved victory. Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello, and Dries Vanthoor did a perfect job – as did the team. Many thanks to everyone who made this triumph possible. The icing on the cake is the podium for the #69 BMW M4 GT3 EVO crew. Congratulations to them as well!
We had a great weekend and a great race. Here in Brazil, we achieved our second FIA WEC victory of the year. It was a flawless race from the drivers and the pit crew, and the car was strong. I think things are looking very good now for both the manufacturers’ and drivers’ championships, and taking second place in LMGT3 was a big success for the GT department. I’m very happy about that.
Driver statements.
Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “An incredible weekend here in Brazil. Congratulations to the #15 crew on a well-deserved victory. Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello, and Dries Vanthoor did a perfect job – as did the team. A big compliment also goes to the #20 crew, who made up ten places in this tight field after a difficult qualifying. Many thanks to everyone who made this triumph possible. The icing on the cake is the podium for the #69 BMW M4 GT3 EVO crew. Congratulations to them as well! After this great weekend, we look forward to the second half of the season with great anticipation.”
Vincent Vosse (Team Principal BMW M Team WRT): “We had a great weekend and a great race. Here in Brazil, we achieved our second FIA WEC victory of the year. It was a flawless race from the drivers and the pit crew, and the car was strong. I think things are looking very good now for both the manufacturers’ and drivers’ championships, and taking second place in LMGT3 was a big success for the GT department. I’m very happy about that.”
Kevin Magnussen (BMW M Team WRT, #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, 1st place): “I’m incredibly happy for everyone. The car was simply fantastic. Today, the BMW M Hybrid V8 was one of the fastest cars and a pleasure to drive. The strategy was perfect, the pit stops too – everything just worked today. My two teammates did an excellent job. That’s why I’m overjoyed to have finally achieved this victory. It took a long time, but now we’ve finally done it.”
Raffaele Marciello (BMW M Team WRT, #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, 1st place): “It’s an incredible feeling. Three years ago, we started from the bottom, and now this year things are going very well for us with car #15, car #20, and for BMW M Motorsport so we can be very satisfied. We have to keep working hard, but I think we have a great team. We work very well together. We’ll keep giving it our all. Today is a great day.”
Dries Vanthoor (BMW M Team WRT, #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, 1st place): “I’ve never experienced a situation like at the start of my stint. I just got in and didn’t feel comfortable at all. I wasn’t feeling particularly well and had to take a deep breath to somehow make it to the end. But I’m super happy. BMW M Team WRT did a great job today. The strategy was fantastic and the car was phenomenal during the race. It took a long time, we worked really hard, and to achieve this now is just so, so nice. A big thank you to everyone working behind the scenes.”
René Rast (BMW M Team WRT, #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8, 8th place): “First of all, congratulations to the #15 crew on their victory! That’s a great success for all of us. Those of us with car #20 can also be satisfied with eighth place after starting from the very back. They are valuable points in both championships, and Robin and I are back at the top of the drivers’ standings. Nevertheless, we need to look at why we couldn’t match the pace of our sister car. We made up a lot of places in the race, but even then we didn’t have the same performance as car #15.”
Dan Harper (Team WRT, #69 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, 2nd place LMGT3): “Second place here in Brazil is a fantastic result. We didn’t expect that, as the circuit didn’t really suit the BMW M4 GT3 EVO. I think the cooler conditions on race day played into our hands. The longer the race went on, the better our car became. Hats off to my teammates who put us in a great position with their qualifying laps and stints. The team did a perfect job and found the optimal strategy for us. Everyone deserved this podium.”
Augusto Farfus (Team WRT, #32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, 12th place LMGT3):“Congratulations to our sister car on second place. We improved the car a lot over the weekend, and car #69 rewarded the team with the podium. It’s frustrating that we lost a minute to them during the race. We need to analyse exactly why that was. We’ve had some disappointing races recently, but we’re determined to achieve better results in the second half of the season. Congratulations to the Hypercar crew on the overall victory!”