Le Mans. On its third attempt, BMW M Team WRT celebrated its
long-awaited first major success at the legendary 24 Hours of Le
Mans (FRA). In an exciting race, Robin Frijns (NED), René Rast
(GER), and Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) secured second place in the
#20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8. It was the first overall podium at Le
Mans for BMW M Motorsport since its victory with the BMW V12 LMR in
1999. A repeat of the historic triumph was within reach, but in the
end, final driver Frijns was 10.9 seconds short of the winning Toyota
.

 

The historic Le Mans weekend began as early as Thursday, when the #15
BMW M Hybrid V8, with drivers Kevin Magnussen (DEN), Raffaele
Marciello (SUI), and Dries Vanthoor (BEL) claimed the first pole
position for BMW M Motorsport and BMW M Team WRT at Le Mans. In the
race, the #20 crew, starting from fourth on the grid, took the lead
early on and led the field at times. A safety car period about six
hours before the finish brought the field back together and set the
stage for a thrilling showdown right up to the final lap. While car
#20 celebrated at the end with a podium finish, car #15 retired early.
After an unavoidable collision and a puncture, a technical defect
ultimately forced the crew to retire the car.

 

In the LMGT3 class, things looked promising after qualifying with
starting positions five and six at the beginning of the race. However,
over the course of the 24 hours, the two BMW M4 GT3 EVOs were unable
to keep up with the pace at the front. Augusto Farfus (BRA), Sean
Gelael (INA), and Darren Leung (GBR) finished in seventh place. Their
teammates Dan Harper (GBR), Parker Thompson (CAN), and Anthony
McIntosh (USA) retired with gearbox problems.

 

Quotes after the 24 Hours of Le Mans:

 

Franciscus van Meel (CEO of BMW M GmbH): “It was an
incredibly emotional weekend with the world premiere of our BMW M
Concept Neue Klasse and a thrilling, nerve-wracking 24-hour race at Le
Mans. Second place, the first podium for BMW M Motorsport in 27 years,
just ten seconds behind the winner after a perfect performance – it
could hardly have gone better. A huge thank you to everyone at BMW M,
BMW M Motorsport, and BMW M Team WRT who contributed to this great
success. You have all shown what can be achieved when you work
tirelessly to make a project like the BMW M Hybrid V8 a success. Congratulations!”

 

Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “What a
magnificent and historic result! Pole position and second place on the
podium – incredible! I’m absolutely delighted for the drivers Robin
Frijns, René Rast, and Sheldon van der Linde. But it was a gigantic
achievement by everyone: the drivers, the team, and all the colleagues
at BMW M Motorsport. We can be very proud of this – thank you all! We
have worked for years to be successful at Le Mans again, and now we
have reaped the reward with second place. It was an incredibly
exciting race. For us, it was a rollercoaster ride, but in the end, to
finish second just ten seconds behind is a fantastic achievement. Pit
stops, strategy – everything worked perfectly. Congratulations to
Toyota on a well-deserved victory! It’s a shame that car #15 retired
and we had hoped for a much better result in the LMGT3 class. We will
analyzey that, but for now, the joy prevails.”

 

Vincent Vosse (Team Principal, BMW M Team WRT): “That
was one of the strongest races we have ever had as a team with the BMW
M Hybrid V8. Absolutely flawless. No penalties, no bad pit stops –
nothing. Congratulations to everyone in my team and at BMW M
Motorsport! We are one unit, we are making progress, and we deserved
this podium. I’m not disappointed at all that we didn’t win. Toyota
deserved it – congratulations! I feel sorry for the crew of car #15.
On the LMGT3 side, we have to admit that we simply had no chance. That
is very disappointing. Many thanks to the team and drivers for their
great effort. They gave everything, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t
enough this time.”

 

Robin Frijns (BMW M Team WRT, #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8, 2nd
place): “I honestly don’t quite know what to say yet.
Second place at Le Mans is a fantastic achievement, but seeing the
victory so close does hurt a bit. The last safety car brought the
Toyotas, who had problems just before, back into the game. That was
tough for us, as they had a bit more pace than we did. We led for long
stretches of the race, but in the end, second place was the maximum we
could achieve after the safety car.”

 

René Rast (BMW M Team WRT, #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8, 2nd
place): “It’s a bittersweet podium. On the one hand, it’s a
great achievement to be on the podium at Le Mans. The team and we as
drivers did everything right, I would say. But unfortunately, Le Mans
didn’t choose us as winners this time. We led for long phases of the
race, but the last safety car threw our strategy off a bit and when
you’re so close to victory, of course you want to win.”

 

Sheldon van der Linde (BMW M Team WRT, #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid
V8, 2nd place): “At first, I don’t really know whether to
laugh or cry. When you finish just ten seconds behind the winner after
24 hours, it’s not easy to accept at first. But if we look at the past
two years and see the huge progress we’ve made, we can be very proud.
The team gave everything to put us in this position. Of course, you
never know if you’ll get another chance to win Le Mans, but we’ll
definitely try again.”

 

Kevin Magnussen (BMW M Team WRT, #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, DNF):
“It just wasn’t our race. A few things went wrong, but that’s
also Le Mans. Luckily, our sister car made up for our bad luck and
scored a fantastic podium. That’s ultimately a great success for all
of us. As for us in car #15: We’ll come back stronger.”

 

Augusto Farfus (Team WRT, #32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, 7th place
LMGT3): “First of all, congratulations to the Hypercar crew
on the podium. It was a great fight and a deserved result. Our race
was tough. We did everything right, had no technical problems, and
nailed every pit stop. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough to fight
for the podium. We simply didn’t have the pace. Still, it’s always a
great honour to be on the grid here at Le Mans.”

 

Dan Harper (Team WRT, #69 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, DNF): “I
had imagined my first Le Mans, just like Parker and Anthony,
differently. But you also have to see it this way: I was here for the
first time at this very special event, and it was an honor to be part
of it. Hopefully, there will be many more Le Mans appearances to come!
This time, unfortunately, we didn’t have the pace to run at the front.
Then came the gearbox problem. Nevertheless, we can be proud of what
we achieved.”