BMW M TEAM WRT OPENS ITS MAIDEN GTP CAMPAIGN WITH A FANTASTIC IMSA PODIUM AT THE ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA

The journey of BMW M Team WRT in the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA Series) began with an overall podium finish at the prestigious Rolex 24 at Daytona. The BMW M Hybrid V8 #24 of Robin Frijns, René Rast, Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor took third, while sister car #25 of Philipp Eng, Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Marco Wittmann finished eighth.

Moreover, the competitiveness, reliability, and consistency shown by the updated BMW M Hybrid V8 cars, which were among the front-runners for the whole race, and the strong performance of the newly-formed US team, represent the main takeaway of this eventful and record-breaking in number of spectators 64th running of the Daytona 24 Hours. The result marks a convincing debut for the new US operation of BMW M Team WRT, as the squad embarks on its maiden full season in the IMSA Series.

The Daytona week got off to a demanding start, as the team focused on extracting the maximum from the technical updates and the new aero package of the 2026 BMW M Hybrid V8, while also fine-tuning the efficiency of a crew that included more than 35 new team members.

Improvement was steady throughout the sessions. However, there was some disappointment after qualifying as car #24 took eighth position on the grid with Dries Vanthoor at the wheel, right ahead of car #25 driven by Marco Wittmann. Most importantly, the team managed to find a good race setup, which then translated into a competitive race pace.

The race start and initial laps were very lively, with a number of incidents in the most-crowded part of the 60-car field. In the first couple of hours, the two BMW M Hybrid V8 were running consistently, with car #24 recovering fast from an early spin and running second during the fifth hour, before losing some time in the pits to reset the electronic functionalities of the steering wheel, and car #25 also consistently in the top 10.

Already marred with many safety cars and caution periods, the race would be put into lethargy during the sixth hour, as shortly before 1 am, fog forced a neutralisation of the proceedings behind the safety car, that lasted for the rest of the night. The show may have become frustrating for spectators, but the strategy and pit stop challenges were still real, and even more intense with a compact field. BMW M Team WRT excelled in the exercise as usual. At the half wayrace mark, which awarded championship points, car #24 was fourth and car #25 was ninth. Later on, during the 16^th hour, the two cars ran in front of the pack, with #24 ahead of #25.

Race direction had foreseen the restart at 9:00 am, but the weather conditions improved more quickly than expected, which allowed the race to go green at 7:19am, with six hours and 21 minutes to go. The final quarter of the race promised to be an exciting long sprint, and so it was. Both BMW GTP cars showed a strong pace, running consistently in the top five and staying in contention for the win, with the entire team excelling again in race execution.

The two cars entered the final hour - often rich in late-race twists at Daytona - running fourth (#24) and fifth (#25), following different strategies that had been split a few hours earlier. Car #25 had offset its pit-stop sequence, banking on a Safety Car intervention in the final hour, as had been the case in each of the previous four editions. Car #24, meanwhile, remained on the base strategy. The anticipated late Safety Car did not materialise, and car #25 crossed the line in eighth after a late splash and dash. Ultimately, car #24, with Dries Vanthoor at the wheel, charged to the finish, overtook Kevin Estre in the Porsche for third place, and secured a well-deserved podium finish for the entire team after months of hard work.

Vincent VOSSE, Team Principal BMW M Team WRT: “What an achievement from the team! Incredible work from all the people at BMW M Motorsport and Team WRT who have been working very, very hard to achieve this success. I can’t thank every member enough for their hard work. I have to say I am once again very proud of every person involved in this program - whether here at the track or back at the workshop. I am super happy.”

Dries VANTHOOR, driver #24: "To be honest, this is a very unexpected podium. After the Roar, the practice sessions and qualifying, we weren't particularly optimistic and never thought that we could even fight for victory. Hats off to everyone who worked so hard to make this podium possible. For the first race for BMW M Team WRT in the IMSA GTP class, this is a fantastic result."

Sheldon VAN DER LINDE, driver #24:“I am very, very happy. This is one of the most unexpected podiums I have ever had in my career. I think none of us expected to be fighting for the win before the race. Everyone was a bit unhappy about the pace the car had, but we knew that the team was super strong in execution. We practiced all the strategy options that we needed to go through for the race, and it played out perfectly for us. We had our hiccups as well, but everyone does in this race. We are just happy to be rewarded finally. It is really impressive what the team has done in those four months. I can only say a huge thank you to them.”

Robin FRIJNS, driver #24: "To be honest, I never really expected a podium. We started the weekend on the backfoot and didn’t particularly have the pace. But then we really came back. We had a good communication within the team and a great teamwork. I am really happy with P3."

René RAST, driver #24: “A team that is formed within just a few months, enters IMSA as a newcomer, and immediately achieves a podium in Daytona is something you don’t see very often. It shows how strong the team is and how well the cooperation with BMW M Motorsport has worked. Of course, third place also comes unexpectedly, as we had little pace at the beginning of the weekend and couldn’t know that we would be fighting for the win, and the podium. It is a gigantic team effort. A huge thank you to BMW M Motorsport and Team WRT!"

Marco WITTMANN, driver #25: “The whole team delivered a great performance. We were in a better shape than we expected after the Roar and qualifying. We were able to fight for the podium with both cars. In the end, our sister car achieved it. Congratulations to them! When a team has two cars in strong positions, you split the strategies. We did gamble on a late yellow flag, which might even have given us the win. Unfortunately, for us that gamble didn’t pay off. But still we can all be proud as a team of how we approached the race. We stayed calm and fought back even when setbacks occurred. Coming here as newcomers, we definitely achieved our goal with the podium. We can build on that looking ahead to the upcoming races.”