CHALLENGING WEEKEND IN AUSTIN, BUT BMW M TEAM WRT KEEPS THE CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD

After a string of strong weekends, the team faced a much tougher outing at the 6 Hours of Austin, round five of the FIA WEC. Between the heat, the humidity at the Circuit of the Americas, and a pace that was hard to find, neither the BMW M Hybrid V8s nor the BMW M4 GT3 EVOs had the weekend they were hoping for. Fortunately, the #20 Hypercar holds on to the lead of the drivers' championship, level on points with Toyota, while BMW M Team WRT remains 2nd in the manufacturers' standings.

Both BMW M Hybrid V8s struggled with pace all weekend long. The #15, starting 11th, had a tough and not the cleanest of races, but still crossed the line P8 to bank some valuable points for the championship. The sister car also endured a challenging qualifying and race: Robin Frijns, René Rast and Sheldon van der Linde started 13th, picked up a 5-second penalty for contact on track, and brought the car home on 12th position.

On the GT side, things went sideways from the very first hour, with both cars finishing outside the points. On the BMW M4 GT3 EVO #69, Dan Harper, Parker Thompson and local hero Anthony McIntosh had a lucky escape after just 15 minutes of racing: Tony was hit, got a puncture, and came back to the pits with a cockpit filled with smoke. He managed to bring the car back just in time, had to jump out for some fresh air and a splash of water to his eyes, then climbed back in to complete his double stint. Because the stop happened while the pitlane was closed, it counted as an emergency stop, and the crew was handed a stop-and-go penalty. The trio finished P11, just outside the points.

On the other side of the garage, the #32 looked set for a strong day: Darren Leung had a great start and was running 3rd after qualifying 6th. Minutes later, a failure of the FIA-mandated RPM sensor sent Darren into the pits for repairs not long after the green flag. From there, nothing went right, with the trio losing 10 laps and then picking up several track-limits penalties along the way. Darren, together with Augusto Farfus and Sean Gelael, brought the car home in P16. 

The busy run of races continues next weekend with the Suzuka 1000KMs in Japan, part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge. Dan Harper, who already has experience at this event, will be joined by his #69 teammates Anthony McIntosh and Parker Thompson for this legendary race.