BELGIAN BMW M TEAM WRT CLAIMS VICTORY AND A PODIUM IN JAPAN IN THE FIA WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP.
The Belgian team, from Bierset, came away from Fuji in Japan with another strong result to add to its record: a win in LMGT3 and a podium in Hypercar, in front of 72,400 Japanese fans.
After a hectic six-hour race from start to finish, the #32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Darren Leung (GBR), Sean Gelael (IDN) and BMW M Works Driver Augusto Farfus (BRA) claimed a hard fought win in the GT category, while the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, driven by Belgian Dries Vanthoor alongside teammates Kevin Magnussen (DEN) and Raffaele Marciello (SUI), rounded off the celebrations with third place in the Hypercar category, for the third time on the podium this season. "The team made a great strategy call, which put us in the fight for victory," said Dries Vanthoor."We can be very happy with this P3."
Well-known former F1 driver Kevin Magnussen, also part of the podium-finishing #15 crew, highlighted the team's efforts: "The great work of the engineers and the pit stop crew made the difference today. We didn't have the pace to finish on the podium, but we still did. We kept it clean all race, so it was a great job by the team, and congrats to everyone."
Vincent Vosse, Team Principal of BMW M Team WRT, praised the performance:"Great strategy from car #15 and a great drive from the drivers! Considering where we started, that looks very good. In LMGT3, we had a flying stint from Augusto Farfus in the last hour, who drove from P6 to the lead. That was an incredible drive. Thanks to him for giving us the victory!"
The Belgian team currently sits third in the Hypercar Drivers' Championship and second among manufacturers, still very much in the fight for the title, with two rounds left this season, Barcelona in mid-October and Monza in November. The team now heads to the GT World Challenge Sprint Cup finale in Barcelona as well as to the IMSA finale at Road Atlanta, last part of a demanding run of 8 races in 6 weeks. Based in Grâce-Hollogne, near Liège, Team WRT already claimed 78 titles in just 16 years with more potentially on the way before the season ends.
FIA WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP - FUJI
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