BMW is approaching the remainder of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign ‘with great anticipation’ following its second triumph in three races earlier this month in Brazil – with Vincent Vosse opining that ‘things are looking very good now’ in the title fight.
The aerodynamic updates brought to the M Hybrid V8 Hypercar over the winter have catapulted the Bavarian brand right into the reckoning in its third season of competition in the series’ top-tier. The Imola curtain-raising contest back in April might have yielded ‘just’ fifth and seventh places, but since then, BMW has finished either first or second in every event, with victories at Spa-Francorchamps and in São Paulo sandwiching a superb runner-up result in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
At Interlagos, Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor converted fourth position on the grid into a maiden success for the #15 entry in its 20th FIA WEC start.
That was achieved courtesy of a smart strategy, a strong turn-of-speed from all three drivers, some feisty racecraft from Magnussen and Marciello and a mature final couple of stints by Vanthoor, who refused to buckle under the pressure applied by both Ferrari and Cadillac despite feeling far from his best. A minor off-track excursion on cold tyres with 45 minutes left on the clock was the crew’s only real error of the race, but it did not impact the outcome.
“I’ve never experienced a situation like at the start of my stint – I just got in and didn’t feel well at all,” the Belgian explained. “I was a bit dizzy and had a bit of a stomach issue, so I had to take a deep breath to somehow make it to the end, and I was super-happy to bring it home and get the win. It's been a long time in the making for us.
“We are three years into this programme now, and we’ve been working flat-out since the beginning and improving step-by-step. BMW M Team WRT did a great job, the strategy was fantastic and the car was phenomenal during the race. We’ve worked really hard, and to achieve this now is just so, so nice.”
“It’s an incredible feeling,” echoed team-mate Marciello. “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 and we’ll keep giving it our all.”
That much is a prerequisite if BMW is to maintain its bid for world championship glory right through to the end of the season. The marque sits just five points shy of multiple title-winning rival Toyota at the summit of the Manufacturers’ standings – with the Japanese giant failing to score around the Autódromo José Carlos Pace – while #20 duo René Rast and Robin Frijns are tied on points with Toyota’s #7 crew at the sharp end of the Drivers’ classification.
Alongside Sheldon van der Linde – ten points behind his two team-mates after missing the Imola opener – Rast and Frijns charged through the 17-strong Hypercar field from a lowly 16th on the grid to finish eighth in the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo, taking the chequered flag sixth in their Shell-liveried prototype but incurring a retrospective five-second penalty for late contact.
That disappointment notwithstanding, BMW is well-placed indeed heading into the final four rounds of the campaign, beginning with the six-hour Lone Star Le Mans at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas in Texas, USA on 4-6 September.
“We had a great weekend,” reflected BMW M Team WRT Team Principal, Vincent Vosse. “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.”
“An incredible weekend in Brazil and a well-deserved victory,” echoed Head of BMW M Motorsport, Andreas Roos. “Kevin, Raffaele and Dries all 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. We look forward to the second half of the season with great anticipation.”
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