BMW M TEAM WRT CROWNED FIA WEC WORLD VICE-CHAMPIONS AFTER A LANDMARK 2026 SEASON

The 6 Hours of Monza closed the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship season for BMW M Team WRT. The #15 and #20 finished P5 and P7 in Hypercar, securing second place in the Manufacturers’ standings, while Raffaele Marciello and Kevin Magnussen took third in the Drivers’ championship. In LMGT3, the #69 finished fourth, which was enough for Anthony McIntosh, Parker Thompson and Dan Harper to take third in the Drivers’ championship, while the #32 was unlucky to be forced out early following a collision.

Qualifying was a struggle for both Hypercar crews. The #20 was the only car to reach Hyperpole, securing P10, while the #15 started from P17. Both crews fought their way forward in the race though, with both cars running among the podium positions for a time but both lost some pace in the final hour. Ultimately, the #20 of Sheldon van der Linde, Robin Frijns and René Rast, which also had a hybrid system issue, finished P7, and the #15 of Raffaele Marciello, Dries Vanthoor and Kevin Magnussen crossed the line in P5.

BMW M Motorsport closes the season P2 in the Manufacturers’ standings. Marciello and Magnussen finish P3 in the Drivers’ standings with the #15, while Vanthoor, who missed the opening race because of a clash with IMSA at Laguna Seca, is fifth. Team WRT’s 2026 WEC season brought two Hypercar wins and three further podiums, with highlights including a 1-2 at its home race in Spa-Francorchamps, victory in São Paulo, second place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and third in Fuji.

Qualifying was also difficult for the two BMW M4 GT3 EVOs, which missed out on Hyperpole, with the #32 lining up P12 and the #69 P16. The #32 of Sean Gelael, Augusto Farfus and Darren Leung, which ran a special livery honouring former BMW driver Alessandro Zanardi, was forced out early by a collision. It was a disappointing end to the season for a crew that had won in Fuji. The #69 had a better afternoon. Anthony McIntosh drove a strong opening stint, climbing from P16 to P3, and Dan Harper and Parker Thompson kept the car in the podium fight. With pace dropping in the closing stages, the podium slipped away and the car took the flag in fourth. That was still enough to secure third place in the LMGT3 Drivers’ championship for the trio, who stood on the podium three times this season: a win at the 6 Hours of Imola in April, then second in São Paulo and third in Barcelona.
 
However, the 2026 season isn’t over for Team WRT. Next weekend, the team opens the Asian Le Mans Series season at Paul Ricard, where Anthony McIntosh and Parker Thompson will be joined by Max Hesse in the BMW M4 GT3 EVO #69. Another crew then heads to Macau for the FIA GT World Cup, the last event of the year, with Raffaele Marciello and Kevin van der Linde to wrap up an intense 35-race weekends season.