BMW M Team WRT fights from 16th to seventh in Barcelona WEC as Toyota clinches both titles
Kevin Magnussen, Dries Vanthoor and Raffaele Marciello drove the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 from 16th on the grid to seventh at the 6 Hours of Barcelona, while Toyota sealed both world titles with a one-two finish.
- 16th to 7th
- 24 points
- 20 seconds
- 3
What Happened
BMW M Team WRT produced a strong recovery drive at the penultimate round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Barcelona, Spain. In changeable conditions, Kevin Magnussen, Dries Vanthoor and Raffaele Marciello fought their way from 16th on the grid to seventh place in the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8. Both BMW M Hybrid V8 cars struggled for pace in qualifying, and the #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8 started the 6 Hours of Barcelona from 13th, three positions ahead of its sister car. Magnussen quickly worked his way up the field on the wet track, but a ten-second time penalty for contact with a rival meant he handed the #15 over to Vanthoor in 13th place.
- Started 16th, finished 7th
- Started 13th, finished 14th
- Started 15th, finished 3rd
On the drying Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Vanthoor fought his way up to fifth before a brief refuelling stop a few laps before the finish, and Marciello brought the #15 car home in seventh. The #20 crew of René Rast, Sheldon van der Linde and Robin Frijns had a bitter Sunday: shortly after a Safety Car period in the first hour the car had to pit for insufficient tyre pressure and was then handed a 20-second time penalty, dropping it down the order on the way to 14th. In LMGT3, BMW M works driver Dan Harper, alongside Parker Thompson and Anthony McIntosh, took the #69 BMW M4 GT3 EVO from 15th on the grid to third, his third podium of the season with Team WRT after Imola in Italy and São Paulo in Brazil. The sister #32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Augusto Farfus, Sean Gelael and Darren Leung started sixth but fell back through a series of penalties and finished 12th, three weeks after their win at Fuji.
- Magnussen and Marciello moved up to third place in the drivers' standings
- Rast and Frijns are tied on points in fourth
- BMW M Motorsport retained second place in the manufacturers' standings with a 24-point advantage over third
- Toyota secured both the manufacturers' and drivers' titles with a one-two finish in Barcelona
- The season finale takes place at Monza
“Unfortunately, we have had a disappointing weekend in Barcelona. We were already lacking pace with the Hypercar in qualifying. Our plan was to work our way forward in the race through strategy in the difficult weather conditions, which initially worked well. Unfortunately, neither car had a trouble-free race, particularly the #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8, with its additional, unplanned pit stop and the penalty. This set us back a long way. The #15 delivered a strong recovery drive and finished in seventh place. Naturally, we had hoped to still be in contention for the title in Monza, but unfortunately, we were unable to score enough points to keep the championship battle alive. Congratulations to Toyota on its well-deserved titles in both championships. The #69 BMW M4 GT3 EVO achieved a top result with third place in difficult conditions, and I am very pleased for the team.”
“We had low expectations but, of course, high hopes, and, to be honest, we've done the perfect job. Qualifying was difficult, of course. Things just didn't quite fall into place, so we started further back than we should have. Tony did a mega job in the first two stints under tricky conditions and got us back up to the front. Then Parker and a good strategy brought us right into the fight for the top five. I then jumped in and tried to hold on with everything I had. It was very close and very tricky, especially when it came to managing tyre pressures and energy towards the end, but I'm absolutely delighted to have secured a podium!”
Previously from BMW
Earlier MotorClaw coverage reported that BMW M Motorsport will chase victory at the FIA GT World Cup in Macau on 21-22 November with three BMW M4 GT3 EVOs. Those cars will be run by Teams WRT and KRC.
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of BMW's official releases.
Why this matters
The Barcelona round was the penultimate race of the FIA WEC season, and the result ended BMW M Motorsport's hopes of keeping the Hypercar title fight alive — Toyota clinched both the manufacturers' and drivers' championships there. BMW now heads to the Monza finale holding second in the manufacturers' standings and third and fourth in the drivers' standings, so the works drivers, Team WRT and the LMGT3 crews are the ones directly affected.
Terms in This Story
- FIA WEC
- The FIA World Endurance Championship, a global series of long-distance sports car races.
- Hypercar
- The top class of the FIA World Endurance Championship, contested by the fastest prototype racing cars.
- LMGT3
- The GT3-based class in the FIA World Endurance Championship, for racing cars derived from production models and built to GT3 regulations.
- Safety Car
- A course vehicle that leads the field at reduced speed during a race so that marshals can deal with an incident or hazardous conditions.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.