BMW M TEAM WRT CLAIMS MAIDEN HYPERCAR VICTORY WITH STUNNING 1-2 FINISH AT SPA

BMW M Team WRT delivered one of its most memorable results in the FIA World Endurance Championship on home soil at the 6 Hours of Spa, claiming a historic first Hypercar victory and a sensational 1-2 finish with the BMW M Hybrid V8. Sheldon van der Linde, Robin Frijns and René Rast claimed victory in the #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8, with Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello and Kevin Magnussen securing second place in the #15 to complete a commanding 1-2 finish for
BMW M Team WRT. The result lifts the Hypercar team to the top of the World Endurance Championship standings.

The achievement is all the more remarkable given the team started from tenth and eleventh on the grid. What unfolded was a masterclass in strategy. After the opening laps, the team elected to play a bold
gamble on Car #20, and it paid off . Multiple safety cars compressed the field and kept the tension high throughout, while Car #15 capitalised on a pitstop under Virtual Safety Car to vault back into contention. From there, Kevin Magnussen held his nerve in a breathless fight with the Ferrari that went all the way to the final corner. 

The GT programme offered a more challenging race. Success ballast following the Imola victory left Car #69 starting from P17, and despite a strong recovery drive to P11, the car narrowly missed the points. Car
#32 reached Hyperpole and lined up sixth, running strongly in the early stages before a collision with a Hypercar forced an unscheduled stop to replace the front bumper, ending any realistic points hopes. 

Three years of relentless work by both the Belgian team and the German manufacturer have led to this moment and the milestone speaks for itself. BMW M Team WRT are now the first team in history to win overall in Hypercar, LMP2 and GT, a feat that stands alone in endurance racing. No time to rest for Team WRT. Before the WEC season's biggest challenge at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in
just one month time, the team faces a busy and exciting month of May with the Spa 24 Hours Prologue, an IMSA race in Detroit, and a GT World Endurance race at the Temple of Speed in Monza.

Vincent Vosse, BMW M Team WRT: « I could not have dreamed of a better result on home soil. I think back to the early days of this Hypercar programme, the highs, the lows, all the hard work over the last four years, but also over the seventeen years of this team's history. This result belongs to every single person who has been part of this journey from day one. The drivers did a perfect job, the team made the right calls at the right time, and I could not be more happy and proud of my guys. Hats off to everyone. »