BMW had double cause for celebration in last weekend’s 6 Hours of Imola – round two of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign – after clinching a podium finish in both the Hypercar and LMGT3 categories.
Having qualified down in 13th on the grid, Robin Frijns, René Rast and Sheldon van der Linde suspected they were in for a tough day around the tight and technical Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari – renowned as one of the more difficult circuits on which to overtake. Thirteen, however, would transpire to be their lucky number…
Courtesy of consistent and composed stints from all three drivers, the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 steadily climbed the order in the 18-strong Hypercar field – although a coming-together between Rast and Toyota’s Mike Conway at the Gresini chicane at the beginning of the third hour caused significant damage to the German prototype’s rear wing and necessitated a complete rear section change during the car’s next pit visit.
In an effort to regain lost ground, BMW M Team WRT subsequently elected to adjust its strategy. Allied to a series of qualifying-style laps from Van der Linde, that tactical masterstroke elevated the #20 crew to the runner-up spot at the chequered flag, less than nine seconds shy of victory – marking the trio’s breakthrough rostrum result in FIA WEC Hypercar competition and equalling BMW’s best FIA WEC finish to-date.
“A fantastic result – finally a podium!” enthused Rast. “We didn’t expect that after qualifying didn’t go as planned, but in the race, we showed how good our car and team are. We made almost no mistakes, stayed calm and executed well. In the end, a bit of luck was also involved, but we have had so much bad luck before that we deserve to celebrate this!”
In the sister #15 entry, Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor ran in third place until the final hour of the race, when a loss of performance dropped the car to sixth.
In LMGT3, after lining up on pole position following a stellar qualifying and Hyperpole performance from Ahmad Al Harthy and Valentino Rossi, the #46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO looked to be odds-on for a maiden victory in the hands of the home hero, his Omani team-mate and Kelvin Van der Linde.
They had built up a comfortable lead approaching the end of the fourth hour, when contact between Rossi and Simon Mann in the #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari at Rivazza 2 pitched the latter into the gravel trap and incurred a stop-and-go penalty for the BMW.
That prompted a scorching comeback charge by Van der Linde, who scythed his way through from eighth to latch right onto the tail of the Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche in the lead, spectacularly trying every which way to prise the door open in the closing stages before ultimately being obliged to settle for the runner-up spoils. The margin of just 0.316secs between first and second places in LMGT3 was the narrowest in the category’s history.
“I have mixed feelings because a podium is a good result, but we could have won,” reflected Rossi. “It was very unfortunate because the team did a fantastic job, the car was very fast and we managed the tyres well. Ahmad and especially Kelvin drove brilliantly. Kelvin fought until the end and brought the podium home.
“Unfortunately, I made a mistake and hit the Ferrari in front of me during an overtaking attempt. The subsequent penalty cost us the win and I am sorry for that.”
If that was an emotional rollercoaster, the six-hour contest would prove to be an even more tumultuous affair for the sister #31 car – entered under The Bend Team WRT banner. Two collisions and a string of penalties – plus an enforced rear wing repair – interrupted their progress, restricting Qatar top three finishers Augusto Farfus, Timur Boguslavskiy and Yasser Shahin to a disappointed 12th at the flag.
“There are races where everything just goes wrong,” the Brazilian rued. “This was one of them. We had a great car with great speed, but we couldn’t capitalise on it. That’s hard to accept, because it doesn’t happen every time that you have such a strong package available. We made too many mistakes and luck was also not on our side, but the championship is still open. Now, we need to focus on the next race.”
Indeed, buoyed by its burgeoning momentum, the Belgian outfit is looking ahead with great expectations as it prepares to do battle on home soil in round three of the season on 8-10 May – the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
“Congratulations to Team WRT, the drivers and everyone involved at BMW M Motorsport,” commented Head of BMW M Motorsport, Andreas Roos. “The #20 crew did a fantastic job; thanks to flawless performances by the drivers and perfect strategy, they deservedly earned their first podium in FIA WEC. A podium finish in both classes gives us confidence for the upcoming races, where we will try to secure our first win of the year.”
“A great weekend with a second place in both the Hypercar and LMGT3 classes,” echoed Team Principal, Vincent Vosse. “We will investigate and find out exactly what happened with the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 towards the end of the race. We similarly had various problems with car #31. It’s unfortunate that it fell so far back, because the crew had moved up from 12th at the start to second place.
“It was also frustrating for car #46, which led a large part of the race and had the speed to win. Anyway, a double podium in FIA WEC is always very satisfying, and now let’s see what we can achieve at Spa...”
