PODIUM FINISH FOR THE BEND TEAM WRT AT FUJI IN EVENTFUL 6-HOUR RACE

Fuji Speedway, Japan - September 29th, 2025 - The FIA World Endurance Championship travelled to Asia this weekend for the 6 Hours of Fuji, the penultimate round of the FIA WEC 2025 season. The 100th race in the history of the championship delivered one of the most dramatic and entertaining rounds of the 2025 season with three safety car interventions, five ‘Full Course Yellow’ periods, and multiple incidents. BMW M Team WRT entered its usual four-car line-up across Hypercar and LMGT3 categories and came away with a podium finish in the LMGT3 class, thanks to the The Bend Team WRT #31 entry of Timur Boguslavskiy, Augusto Farfus and Yasser Shahin.

September 28, 2025

RACE HIGHLIGHTS

Through strong pace and a well-calculated fuel strategy for the #31 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Yasser Shahin, Augusto Farfus and Timur Boguslavskiy. The car climbed into P3 with less than an hour to go, holding off pressure from competition to add a second WEC podium to their tally, the fourth one for Team WRT in the 2025 LMGT3 class.
The Skechers-branded #46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO delivered once again a strong and consistent race. Starting from P11 in class, the fan-favourite crew fought through traffic to climb up the order, eventually crossing the line in fourth place, just shy of the podium, and was greeted by a sea of VR46 yellow in the grandstands and paddock.
It was a challenging outing for BMW M Team WRT in the Hypercar category, unable to fight for ultimate top positions in an ultra-competitive field. The #20 BMW M Hybrid V8, driven by Sheldon van der Linde, Robin Frijns and René Rast, delivered a clean and consistent run to finish in the points. The car struggled for outright pace throughout the weekend, although Sheldon’s P5 Hyperpole result against the odds stood out. The #15 sister car, driven by Dries Vanthoor, Kevin Magnussen, and Raffaele Marciello, was unlucky from the start, as it was hit by a competitor in the first corner, damaging the rear wing with repairs required during a FCY period. The car was later involved in an incident, that is still under investigation, making contact with the barriers and retiring from the race.

LOOKING AHEAD

After five consecutive race weekends across Europe, the United States, and Japan, Team WRT will finally enjoy a well-deserved weekend break. This intense international stint saw the Belgian squad collect victories, podiums, and titles across multiple platforms (GT World Challenge – a race win, podiums in all three classes and Overall Sprint Cup titles, IGTC race win in Suzuka and two LMGT3 podiums in WEC).

Racing will resume on October 12th with the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup finale in Barcelona. The team shall arrive at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya leading the Overall Team Championship (Sprint and Endurance), while Charles Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde sit second in the Overall Driver standings, just five points behind the leaders. Team WRT is also in contention for the Endurance Cup Team and Driver titles, currently third in both classifications.

QUALIFYING RESULTS.pdf

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PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS.pdf

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FIGURES

Number of cars on the grid: 36 (18 Hypercars, 18 LMGT3s)
Manufacturers: 13
Number of WRT cars: 4 (2 Hypercars, 2 LMGT3s)
202 laps in total for Hypercar winner, 185 laps for LMGT3 winner

FACTS

Qualifying HYPERCAR:

Car #15: P13 (Dries Vanthoor)

Car #20: P10 (Sheldon van der Linde)

Hyperpole HYPERCAR:

Car #20: P5 (Sheldon van der Linde)

Qualifying LMGT3:

Car #31: P14 (Yasser Shahin)

Car #46: P11 (Ahmad Al Harthy)

Starting drivers:

#15: Kevin Magnussen

#20: René Rast

#31: Yasser Shahin

#46: Ahmad Al Harthy

Race – 1^st hour:

Good start of #31 and #46, respectively P11 and P9

#15 hit by another car, spun, lost 5 places

FCY – debris on track

VSC – debris on track & slippery surface at Turn Five

#15 pit for rear wing change

SC (following VSC)

End of 1^st hour: #20 in P8, #15 in P18, #46 in P5, #31 in P8

Race – 2^nd hour:

#20 & #31 Drive-through – VSC procedures

#15 Driver change to Marciello

#20 Driver change to Van der Linde

End of 2nd hour: #20 in P14, #15 in P17, #46 in P3, #31 in P13

Race - 3rd hour:

VSC – Car #15 in barrier – DNF

#31 Driver change to Boguslavskiy

#46 Driver change to Rossi

SC (following VSC)

End of 3rd hour: #20 in P14, #46 in P7, #31 in P15, #15 DNF

Race - 4th hour:

FCY – incident

#31 Driver change to Farfus

#46 Driver change to Van der Linde

SC (following FCY)

End of 4th hour: #20 in P8, #46 in P12, #31 in P11, #15 DNF

Race - 5th hour:

#20 Driver change to Frijns

FCY – debris on track

#20 Driver change to Frijns

FCY – debris on track

End of 5th hour: #20 in P2, #46 in P6, #31 in P9, #15 DNF

Race - 6th hour:

FCY – debris on track

End of 6th hour: #20 in P9, #46 in P4, #31 in P3, #15 DNF

RACE RESULTS

HYPERCAR

1/ Chatin – Habsburg – Milesi (Alpine A424) 202 laps

2/ Di Resta – Jensen – Vergne (Peugeot 9X8) + 7.682s

3/ Estre – Vanthoor (Porsche 963) + 8.167s

4/ Andlauer – Jaminet (Porsche 963) + 16.083s

5/ Duval – Jakobsen – Vandoorne (Peugeot 9X8) + 18.542s

9/ Rast – Van der Linde – Frijns (Shell BMW M Hybrid V8) + 50.362s

DNF/ Magnussen – Marciello - Vanthoor (BMW M Hybrid V8)

LMGT3

1/ Andrade – Eastwood – Van Rompuy (Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R) 185 laps

2/ Hériau - Mann - Rovera (Ferrari 296 LMGT3) + 3.010s

3/ Boguslavskiy – Farfus – Shahin (BMW M4 LMGT3 EVO) + 4.888s

4/ Al Harthy – Rossi – van der Linde (BMW M4 LMGT3 EVO) + 8.482s

5/ Hardwick – Lietz – Pera (Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3) + 8.697s

Vincent VOSSE, Team Principal Team WRT: "The third and fourth places in the LMGT3 class were achieved thanks to our fantastic teamwork. We didn’t have the best pace, but we did a flawless job. Looking at the Hypercars, it was a disappointing weekend. Ultimately, the #20 car finished ninth. We had some bad luck with the safety car, but that wasn’t the end of the world. Even the winning #35 Alpine had a drive-through penalty. It was all about being in the right place at the right time. Congratulations to the Alpine crew on their first FIA WEC victory. As for us, the #15 car was heavily damaged after Raffaele Marciello’s crash. It seems the car in front of him suddenly slowed down due to technical issues, and he couldn’t avoid the accident, but this is still under investigation."

Timur BOGUSLAVSKIY, driver #31: "We’re very happy with this podium. We weren’t the fastest in the race, but we still earned third place. We were close in Austin, and this time it finally worked out. I’m not entirely satisfied with my own performance, but Augusto and Yasser did an amazing job."

Augusto FARFUS, driver #31: “Given the pace we had this weekend, we didn’t expect to move so far forward in the race. But we did an excellent job. We had to overcome a few hurdles, but the team handled them brilliantly. The car was much better in the race than in qualifying. The podium feels very rewarding."

Yasser SHAHIN, driver #31: "What a fantastic race result. We really didn’t think we had a chance but a great drive from all three drivers and all the right strategy calls delivered today."

Ahmad AL HARTHY, driver #46: “Very happy with the start of the race! Moving from P11 to P2 is something very special for me. I really enjoyed racing! But more importantly, I tried to give the car in the best way to Vale and then to Kelvin. I’m really proud of the team. This P4 was us punching above our weight. It was because of strategy and teamwork that we are there! Huge thanks to the team!”

Raffaele MARCIELLO, driver #15:"It’s very unfortunate that we had to end the race this way. I’m curious about the outcome of the investigation into my crash. Overall, it was a tough weekend, and we lacked some pace. Still, after the early contact, we made up ground in the race and could have scored some points, especially since several cars ahead of us had penalties or incidents. Now we’re focusing on the season finale in Bahrain."

Robin FRIJNS, driver #20: “A tough weekend. From the first practice session, we didn’t have the pace we had hoped for. We managed to improve, but in the end, we weren’t fast enough. In qualifying, we definitely overperformed with fifth place, thanks to a fantastic lap by Sheldon. In the race, we had a bit of bad luck and a drive-through penalty, but we were still in a decent position. However, we couldn’t hold onto it due to our lack of pace."