TEAM WRT AND BMW READY FOR LE MANS CHALLENGE

The month of June is generally eagerly anticipated in Europe, as it is synonymous with the start of summer, holidays for some, al fresco dining, and barbecue or terrace parties for everybody. But for racing fans across both hemispheres, June means 24 Hours of Le Mans as much as May means Monaco GP and Indy 500. The 93^rd running of the greatest endurance race is coming, and Team WRT is ready to live the dream and take up the challenge. It will be the second time that the Belgian squad takes part in the ‘big one’ as a contender defending the colours of BMW in the two classes of the FIA WEC: the Hypercar and the LMGT3.

June 6, 2025

Since the beginning of the FIA WEC programme last year, the squad has made tremendous progress in both classes, and visited the podium several times. Le Mans could be a good opportunity to materialise the potential shown, although it is superfluous to say that this is a race comparable to no other, with its own dynamics and a great deal of unpredictable factors, which contribute to the magic of the iconic race.

Full of ambition and humility, Team WRT Principal Vincent Vosse anticipates on a long and busy week ahead.

Vincent VOSSE, Team Principal Team WRT: “Le Mans is the most important race of the year for Team WRT. At a personal level, I am one of those who also thinks it is simply the biggest race of all. As much as I love and respect other big races, I don’t think any match Le Mans and it stirs as much passion around the world. To be part of it is already an immense privilege, but clearly, we go to Le Mans with ambitions. Last year, for our first participation in Hypercar with the BMW M Hybrid V8, we aimed to collect as much data as possible, but we had a tougher race than expected. This year, we must strive to have all factors aligned. The method is always the same: all things need to click, and it starts with the test day, when you have a first idea of your potential and you can compare it with the competition. Things have progressed well with our Hypercar programme, and so has the pressure, because it always grows as you move forward in any journey. We have worked in the right direction, we have a better car, we have proved competitive, especially in qualifying and in some phases of races, and we have brought home podium finishes this year, but we need to have everything aligning".

“One can argue that the situation is a little bit different in LMGT3 and it is, for several reasons: there are greater differences among GT3 cars and that impacts on their performances, and the human factor has different dynamics, as line-ups combine drivers of different levels, but at the end of the day, it is again a matter of having everything in sync. In LMGT3, we were second at Le Mans last year, and in the first WEC rounds of this season, we have taken two podiums and one pole. But, so far in the WEC, we haven’t had the same success that we enjoy in other GT3 series and endurance races. We want to change that.”

Hypercar

Two BMW M Hybrid V8s under ‘BMW M Team WRT’ are entered in the Hypercar class, for Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello, and Dries Vanthoor (#15), and Robin Frijns, René Rast and Sheldon van der Linde (#20). Car #20 is currently sixth in the standings and has finished second in Imola, while car #15 lies eighth, with a fourth place in Qatar as its best result.

One man who will attract attention from the media and fans will certainly be Kevin Magnussen. Not only because the 32-year-old Dane is a former Formula 1 star, but also and foremost because Le Mans, for him, is a family affair. Having a dad, Jan, who has raced the 24 Hours 23 times and conquered four class wins, means that Le Mans has always been part of his life, despite having raced it himself only once, in 2021, in LMP2, with his father.

Kevin MAGNUSSEN, driver #15: “For sure, Le Mans is a special race for me. It is part of my childhood memories as far as I can remember. It was a constant topic of discussion in the family, and my dad used to bring me there as a child when he was racing. I remember playing and exploring the paddock with other drivers’ kids. In 2021, during a hiatus in my F1 career, came the opportunity to race it, together with my dad and Anders Fjordbach, in an LMP2 car. The result wasn’t there, but it was a terrific experience, as you can imagine. Now I am super happy and super excited that after 10 years in F1, I can be part of the FIA WEC in a unique moment like this, when it is more competitive than ever. And it is exceptional to be driving for a great brand such as BMW and with a top team such as WRT. There are five, six or seven manufacturers that can win Le Mans this year, it will be a fantastic race. So far this season, we have been quite quick, but we haven’t been able to fully put things together yet. We need to extract more from the great potential we have. We know we can do it. Le Mans, of course, is a special race, with its dynamics, with very high requirements. You need first to perform the cleanest possible race. I don’t say ‘perfect’ because there is no such a thing at Le Mans, but we can do it.”

LMGT3

Team WRT also has two BMW M4 GT3 EVOs entered in the LMGT3 class: #31, under ‘The Bend Team WRT’, for Timur Boguslavskiy, Augusto Farfus and Yasser Shahin, and #46 for Ahmad Al Harthy, Valentino Rossi and Kelvin van der Linde. The former are seventh in the standings, thanks to a podium finish in Qatar, while the latter are ninth, having finished second and taken the pole in Imola. For Valentino Rossi, it will be his second participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The ‘wise man’ of WRT’s LMGT3 band is Augusto Farfus. At 41, the BMW M Motorsport Works driver from Brazil has amassed an incredible wealth of experience in a wide array of categories around the world, but he still sees Le Mans with immense passion.

Augusto FARFUS, driver #31: “Because of history, tradition, importance, and difficulty, it remains the biggest motorsport event in the world. Very often, when I meet people who are not racing connoisseurs and they ask me what I do and in what kind of races I do, if I say ‘GT3’ or ‘DTM’, I need to start lengthy explanations about what those series are, but if I answer ‘Le Mans’, everybody knows, even the lady at the grocery store! This says it all. No doubt it is a special race to me. This will be my seventh time, and my best result is the second position taken last year with Team WRT. The objective is to improve that: if we maximise our potential and have a faultless race, we can be high on the table again. Racing with WRT is a guarantee, we have a very strong line-up, and we know the car and the tyres much better than last year. We have been competitive so far, finishing second in Qatar and having good races ruined by an incident in Spa and several reasons in Imola, but we have proven quick all the time, and the team has won in long races earlier in the season. At a personal level, the main challenge I will have to deal with is that this year I’ll be racing with BMW in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Nürburgring, and Spa, which take place in sequence within three weeks! I will need some rest after that...”

Road to Le Mans

Once again, Team WRT will be also present in the Road to Le Mans, the Michelin Le Mans Cup round that serves as support to the 24 Hours and is becoming every year more popular with fans and drivers wanting to race on the La Sarthe track. Team WRT and BMW won both races in the GT3 class in 2023, with Max Hesse and Tim Whale, as also with Valentino Rossi and Jérôme Policand. This year one BMW M4 GT3 EVO will be entered for Canada’s Samantha Tan and Sweden’s Gustav Bergström, who usually race in the GT World Challenge series in their respective continents. The two one-hour Road to Le Mans races are taking place on Thursday 12 June at 18:25 CEST and Saturday 14 June at 10:05 CEST.

FIA WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP - ROUND 4

24 Heures du Mans – Le Mans, France, 14-15 June 2025

TIMETABLE (local time: CEST)

Sunday 8 June 2025
10:00-13:00 Test Day – Session 1
15:30-18:30 Test Day – Session 2

Wednesday 11 June 2025
14:00-17:00 Free Practice 1
18:45-19:15 Qualifying (LMGT3)

19:30-20:00 Qualifying (Hypercar)
22:00-00:00 Free Practice 2

Thursday 12 June 2025
14:45-17:45 Free Practice 3
20:00-20:20 Hyperpole 1 (LMGT3)
20:35-20:50 Hyperpole 2 (LMGT3)
21:05-21:25 Hyperpole 1 (Hypercar)
21:40-21:55 Hyperpole 2 (Hypercar)
23:00-00:00 Free Practice 4

Saturday 14 June 2025
12:00-12:15 Warm-up
16:00 Race start

Sunday 15 June 2025
16:00 Race finish

WRT ENTRIES

Hypercar (BMW M Team WRT)
#15 Kevin Magnussen (DK) - Raffaele Marciello (CH) – Dries Vanthoor (BE)
#20 Robin Frijns (NL) – René Rast (DE) – Sheldon van der Linde (ZA)

LMGT3
The Bend Team WRT:
#31 Timur Boguslavskiy (--) – Augusto Farfus (BR) – Yasser Shahin (AU)
Team WRT:
#46 Ahmad Al Harthy (OM) – Valentino Rossi (IT) – Kevin van der Linde (ZA)

ROAD TO LE MANS
Team WRT:
#38 Gustav Bergström (SWE) – Samantha Tan (CAN)

ROAD TO LE MANS

Le Mans, France, 13-14 June 2025

TIMETABLE (local time: CEST)

Wednesday 12 June 2025
11:15-12:15 Free Practice 1
20:30-21:30 Free Practice 2

Thursday 12 June 2025
11:45-12:05 Qualifying 1
12:20-12:40 Qualifying 2
18:25 - 19:25 Race 1

Saturday 14 June 2025
10:05 - 11:05 Race 2