The curtains have closed on the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season, as BMW M Team WRT completed the final round at the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain with its usual four-car effort: two BMW M Hybrid V8 Hypercars and two BMW M4 GT3 EVOs. Though the weekend didn’t yield any silverware, the #20 Hypercar and #31 LMGT3 finish in the points. The race also marked the end of the second season of WRT representing BMW M Motorsport in WEC, a partnership set to grow further in 2026 with expanded Hypercar efforts.
RACE HIGHLIGHTS
– In the ever-competitive Hypercar field, the #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8 of Robin Frijns, René Rast, and Sheldon van der Linde, ran a trouble-free race to bring home P8. However, the sister car with Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello and Kevin Magnussen behind the wheel, started with a clean stint but unfortunately was forced to retire just after entering the final hour. A rear-right wheel issue brought the car to a halt and triggered a Virtual Safety Car. The root cause of the technical failure is still under investigation by the team and BMW engineers.
– The #31 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, driven by Farfus, Boguslavskiy, and Shahin, showed consistency throughout the race. Starting from P5 in class after a solid Qualifying from Shahin and Hyperpole from Boguslavskiy, the car was in contention for a top-five finish. Unfortunately, the timing of the VSC triggered by the #15’s retirement came just as #31 was making its final pit stop. This timing proved costly, as several rivals gained positions by pitting under neutralised conditions. The #31 ultimately crossed the line in seventh position.
– The #46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, shared by Valentino Rossi, Ahmad Al Harthy, and Kelvin van der Linde, had a more complicated outing. A drive-through penalty for overtaking under yellow flags, followed by additional setbacks, meant the crew couldn’t break into the top-10. The car finished 15th in the LMGT3 category.
LOOKING AHEAD
The 2025 FIA WEC season may have concluded, but there is little time to rest. Next week, Team WRT will be in the United States for the official IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona, where preparations for the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech Championship will begin. A program that sees WRT and BMW intensify their global Hypercar involvement.
At the same time, the GT crew will head to Macau, where Sheldon van der Linde will represent the team in the FIA GT World Cup, closing out the season with one final sprint showdown in the streets of the iconic city.
RACE RESULTS
HYPERCAR
1/ Conway – De Vries – Kobayashi (Toyota GR010 – Hybrid) 237 laps
2/ Buemi – Hartley – Hirakawa (Toyota GR010 – Hybrid) + 19.378s
3/ Fuoco – Molina – Nielsen (Ferrari 499P) + 26.342s
4/ Calado – Giovinazzi – Pier Guidi (Ferrari 499P) + 26.504s
5/ Hanson – Kubica – Ye (Ferrari 499P) + 39.729s
8/ Rast – Van der Linde – Frijns (Shell BMW M Hybrid V8) + 1 lap
DNF/ Magnussen – Marciello – Vanthoor (BMW M Hybrid V8) + 26 laps
LMGT3
1/ Lopez – Schmid – Umbrarescu (Lexus RC F LMGT3) 216 laps
2/ Berry – Hodenius – Martin (Mercedes-AMG LMGT3) + 0.786s
3/ Drudi – James – Robichon (Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3) + 1.837s
4/ Hardwick – Lietz – Pera (Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3) + 14.205s
5/ Hériau – Mann – Rovera (Ferrari 296 LMGT3) + 16.311s
7/ Boguslavskiy – Farfus – Shahin (BMW M4 LMGT3 EVO) + 28.077s
15/ Al Harthy – Rossi – Van der Linde (BMW M4 LMGT3 EVO) + 1 lap
Vincent VOSSE, Team Principal Team WRT: « It was a challenging race to close the season in Bahrain, and definitely not the result we were hoping for. In Hypercar, we still have work ahead to improve, and in LMGT3 we did what we could. Indeed, we were unlucky with the last Safety Car, otherwise a P5 was possible, but of course, that’s not what we’re here for. Overall, it’s been a demanding season with some podiums, but also disappointments. We know the BMW M4 GT3 EVO very well and have won with it elsewhere, so we’ll analyse why things didn’t go our way in WEC. In Hypercar, after a strong start, it became more difficult with a mix of bad luck and technical issues. We have an upgrade coming for the BMW M Hybrid V8 in 2026 and we will work a lot this winter, so I’m confident we’ll come back stronger and we will be able to fight at the front next season in Qatar in both categories. »
Augusto FARFUS, driver #31: « It was a good race. When you see how difficult this race was for us last year and how big the step was that we made in terms of performance. I think that P5 or P6 would have been possible without the last Safety Car. So well done for the team, the step they did was pretty impressive. »
Kelvin VAN DER LINDE, driver #46: « Unfortunately, my first WEC season with BMW was not as successful as we had hoped. There were some highlights with the podium finishes in Imola and Austin, but overall, we were always in a difficult position in terms of pace. We constantly had to fight our way from the back, and that was not ideal over the course of the season. However, even though things didn’t go perfectly in the FIA WEC, it was still a great first year with BMW overall. »
Raffaele MARCIELLO, driver #15: « The season went differently to last year, we got stronger over the season. This year, we started strong but then it became difficult. After Le Mans, the season has been tough, to be honest. We will try to investigate what happened in the last races and we have some updates on the car, so hopefully this will give us a boost to be able to fight for something more. Next up is Macau, and that’s always a fantastic race. I won it twice, and last year, I nearly won it. So of course we are going there to try to win again. I’m pretty strong there, and so is Sheldon. So hopefully one of us can bring the victory home. »
Sheldon VAN DER LINDE, driver #20: « Unfortunately, it was not the ending we hoped for this year. We would have liked to end the year on a high. There was so much potential at various points in the season but we just didn‘t put it together as we had hoped. But at the same time, we’ve learned a lot about the team and the car. I feel like we’re stronger than ever going into 2026. So, the goal remains the same to try and be World Champions next year, but we have a lot of work to do in the off-season. Now I am going to the FIA GT World Cup at Macau, where I want to end the year with success, and it’s a great opportunity to achieve my goal to win a world title. But I’ve got some very tough competition, firstly with Lello as my fellow BMW driver in the ROWE car and then all the other very competitive cars. So, the goal is to try and win the race. I’ve been there on the podium last year, so we want to go two steps better. »
Luna de Wilde,