Team WRT’s Team Principal is delighted with BMW’s remarkable start to the season, both in Hypercar and LMGT3. The Belgian outfit will be gunning for victory on home soil for the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, round three of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship.
Since the start of the 2025 FIA WEC season, BMW is the only manufacturer involved in Hypercar as well as LMGT3 to grab a podium place in both categories. In the inaugural Qatar 1812 km round, the #31 The Bend Team WRT BMW M4 ranked third. At the 6 Hours of Imola, the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 Team WRT earned second place, as did the #46 M4.
Team Principal of Team WRT, which he co-founded, Vincent Vosse tells fiawec.com how the Belgian outfit climbed the motorsport ladder to the podiums of endurance racing's premier class. “In Hypercar, it was a new chapter for us,” Vincent recalls. “We started FIA WEC in 2021, in the LMP2 championship, which we won. We finished second in 2022 and won it again in 2023 before moving on to Hypercar with BMW.”
In addition to the four podiums in GT, the category in which Team WRT have been demonstrating their expertise since 2010, the German-Belgian pairing's first FIA WEC season also delivered some fine results in Hypercar. “In 2024, we made gradual progress towards our best result, with second place at the 6 Hours of Fuji. We did it again at Imola after a solid race.”
In Japan, Raffaele Marciello, Dries Vanthoor and Marco Wittmann led the #15 BMW to second, and in Emilia-Romagna, it was the #20 of Sheldon van der Linde, Robin Frijns and René Rast that drew plaudits. “We didn't expect this after finishing 13th in qualifying”, adds the German driver. “But in the race, we showed how good our car and our team are.”
The red-and-yellow BMW finished hot on the heels of the victorious #51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P, thanks in part to a shorter penultimate refuelling stop. “The in-race savings we were able to make allowed us to benefit from a much more open strategy at the end of the race,” Vincent explains.
BMW are 2nd in the Hypercar Manufacturers’ Championship, 29 points behind Ferrari. To explain the brand’s remarkable start to the season, Vincent Vosse sheds light on the vast amount of information the team racked up for its second year of running the BMW M Hybrid V8 in FIA WEC. “We've obviously improved the car, but our drivers have a further year of experience. Two of our six drivers contest a double program with IMSA, in addition to FIA WEC.”
BMW M Team WRT will therefore have to make do without Dries Vanthoor and Sheldon van der Linde - who will compete at Laguna Seca - for the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, round 3 of the FIA WEC. “We made this decision over the winter,” Vincent explains. “We give more mileage to our drivers, which allows us to progress a little faster.”
On the mythical Ardennes roller coaster, the two Bavarian Hypercars will be entrusted to just four drivers: René Rast and Robin Frijns for the #20, Raffaele Marciello and Kevin Magnussen for the #15. The former Formula 1 racer joined BMW over the winter. “Kevin is an experienced driver, having driven at the highest level for around ten years,” recalls Vincent. "He adapted very quickly and his understanding with his teammates is excellent.”
Last year at Spa-Francorchamps, a downsized line-up of two took victory with Will Stevens and Callum Ilott in the #12 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963. Vincent Vosse would be delighted to see Team WRT repeat such a performance on their turf. “It would be great to have a good race at home. It would give the whole team an energy boost before the 24 Hours of Le Mans. We've made a good start to the championship. Now we need to keep going, not stumble, keep scoring big points and go for that first overall win. That’s our objective.”
From their humble beginnings in the Belcar Endurance Championship to becoming the armed wing of a brand as prestigious as BMW in the World Endurance Championship, Team WRT aims at nothing less than success. “We’ve always had a fair amount of success in all the categories in which we’ve shown our skills,” recalls Vosse. “Manufacturers like BMW don't enter the FIA WEC just to take part, but to demonstrate their expertise. It's a real world championship, with the best teams, the best drivers and the best cars. WEC has never been this popular. It’s just extraordinary. We’re lucky enough to be part of a magnificent era in endurance racing and, obviously, our aim is to fight at the front.”
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