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São Paulo (BRA), 12-14 July 2024. FIA World Endurance Championship, FIA WEC, BMW M Team WRT, #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, Hypercar, LMDh, Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann.

FIA WEC at COTA: Texas is calling.

Jeff Seabrook 2024 FIA WEC Tuesday August 27, 2024

Texas, Austin, COTA: A spectacular racetrack will host the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) this coming weekend (30th August to 1st September). The 6-hour Lone Star Le Mans race at Circuit of The Americas in Austin (USA) marks the sixth round of the 2024 FIA WEC season for BMW M Motorsport and BMW M Team WRT.

Andrea Schwab
BMW Group

Austin. Texas, Austin, COTA: A spectacular racetrack will host the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) this coming weekend (30th August to 1st September). The 6-hour Lone Star Le Mans race at Circuit of The Americas in Austin (USA) marks the sixth round of the 2024 FIA WEC season for BMW M Motorsport and BMW M Team WRT.

One challenge for all teams will be the high temperatures in Austin, which can reach nearly 40 degrees Celsius during the race weekend. In the Hypercar class, the goal is to demonstrate the potential of the BMW M Hybrid V8 with strong results. Behind the wheel of the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, Raffaele Marciello (SUI), Dries Vanthoor (BEL), and Marco Wittmann (GER) will take turns. In the #20 car, Robin Frijns (NED), René Rast (GER), and Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) will compete.

In the race for the World Championship title in the LMGT3 class, Augusto Farfus (BRA), Sean Gelael (INA), and Darren Leung (GBR) are in a promising position. With three events remaining, the trio, driving the #31 BMW M4 GT3, holds third place in the driver standings. Valentino Rossi (ITA) brings a wealth of two-wheel-experience at COTA from his time as a MotoGP rider. Together with Maxime Martin (BEL) and Ahmad Al Harthy (OMA) in the #46 BMW M4 GT3 he will now race on four wheels in Austin.

The Lone Star Le Mans in Austin kicks off on Sunday, 1st September, at 20:00 CEST (13:00 local time).

Mugello (ITA), 23-25 August 2024. Italian GT Championship, BMW Italia Ceccato Racing, #8 BMW M4 GT3, Pro-Am, Pedro Ebrahim, Federico Malvestiti.

BMW M Motorsport News, 26th August 2024.

Jeff Seabrook BMW Motorsport News Monday August 26, 2024

In our BMW M Motorsport News, we regularly offer you a selection of photos as well as a compact and informative overview of the racing action in various championships worldwide and the successes of the BMW M Motorsport teams.

Laura Claesgens
BMW Group

Björn Lellmann, Head of Customer Racing at BMW M Motorsport:

"What an incredible two race weekends for our BMW M Motorsport teams! BMW Italia Ceccato Racing is at the forefront of the title race after a fantastic performance at Mugello. Paul Miller Racing has finally celebrated its first GTD PRO victory in the IMSA series, and Turner Motorsport also shone in the USA. Add to that the successes for Team WRT and Century Motorsport in the GT World Challenge Europe and for Trevor Racing in the ESET Cup Series. The BMW M4 GT3 has truly impressed. But our teams with the BMW M4 GT4 were in no way inferior. They also achieved further successes in Europe, North America, Australia, and Asia. I am proud of such a strong customer sports programme and warmly congratulate all the winners!"

Italian GT Championship (24.-25.8.): Victories and podiums at Mugello.

Team BMW Italia Ceccato Racing dominated the penultimate sprint weekend of the Italian GT Championship at Mugello (ITA). With their two BMW M4 GT3s, the team led by Team Principal Roberto Ravaglia achieved two victories and two additional podium places, putting them in an excellent position in the title fight. BMW M works drivers Jens Klingmann and Max Hesse (both GER) drove the #7 BMW M4 GT3 to an overall victory in Saturday's race. On Sunday, the duo started from pole position but had to complete a 15-second longer pit stop as required by the regulations after their victory the day before. Nevertheless, final driver Klingmann fought for the lead until the last lap and crossed the finish line in second place. Klingmann has a very good chance of defending his title at the season finale in October at Monza (ITA). Before the evaluation of the drop scores, Klingmann is one point behind, but the drop scores work in his favour, putting him in the lead theoretically. Hesse had to sit out a weekend and therefore does not play a role in the fight for the top position in the overall standings.

His summary of the Mugello weekend was very positive: "It was a great weekend! We felt very comfortable from the first lap and coped very well with the extremely hot conditions. I believe we had an advantage in dealing with the Pirelli tyres thanks to our test the previous week. Working with the BMW Italia Ceccato Racing team is always incredibly fun. Thanks to our good results, Jens is now well in the race for the title before the last sprint weekend in Monza."

In the Pro-Am category, BMW Italia Ceccato Racing also has the best chances for the title. Pedro Ebrahim (BRA) and Federico Malvestiti (ITA) drove the #8 BMW M4 GT3 to a class victory in Sunday's race at Mugello and finished third on Saturday. They lead the Pro-Am drivers' standings, subject to the drop scores, with 98 points and a 27-point lead.

GT World Challenge Europe: Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts defend the overall lead with a win and a podium finish.

Jeff Seabrook 2024 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Sunday August 25, 2024

The battle for the title in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS intensified at the penultimate race weekend of the Sprint Cup at Magny-Cours (FRA). BMW M Team WRT drivers Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts (both BEL) in the #32 BMW M4 GT3 secured a win and a second-place finish, thereby defending their narrow lead in the overall standings.

Andrea Schwab
BMW Group

Magny-Cours. The battle for the title in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS intensified at the penultimate race weekend of the Sprint Cup at Magny-Cours (FRA). BMW M Team WRT drivers Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts (both BEL) in the #32 BMW M4 GT3 secured a win and a second-place finish, thereby defending their narrow lead in the overall standings. BMW M Motorsport teams also celebrated podium finishes in the Silver and Bronze classes. The Sprint Cup season finale will take place from 11^th-13^th October at Barcelona (ESP).

Vanthoor and Weerts demonstrated strong comebacks in both races. On Saturday, they moved up from sixth to second place, which became a win after a post-race time penalty was applied to the first-placed Porsche. On Sunday, they climbed from eighth to second place. In both instances, they had close battles with the #48 Mercedes driven by Lucas Auer (AUT) and Maro Engel (GER). In the end, both duos had a win and a second place to their names, meaning Vanthoor and Weerts could defend their two-point lead in the Sprint Cup driver standings. The same narrow margin separates the two crews in the overall standings combining the Sprint and Endurance Cups.

BMW M works driver Dan Harper (GBR), along with Darren Leung (GBR) in the #991 BMW M4 GT3 from Century Motorsport, finished third in the Bronze Cup in both races. Particularly on Saturday, Harper put on an impressive show, starting from second place and fighting for the lead for a long time during his stint. Ultimately, Leung crossed the finish line first in class, but as Harper had pushed an opponent into the gravel during a duel, the duo received a post-race 10-second penalty and were classified third. Harper and Leung lead the driver standings in the Bronze Cup, just as Calan Williams (AUS) and Sam de Haan (GBR) lead the Silver Cup. The Team WRT duo finished in fifth and third place in the Silver class at Magny-Cours with the #30 BMW M4 GT3.

Comments after the races:

BMW M Motorsport develops new entry-level model for racing for use from the 2026 season.

Jeff Seabrook BMW Motorsport News Tuesday August 20, 2024

Currently, BMW M Motorsport engineers are working on the development of a new car that will complete the portfolio of customer racing cars as an entry-level model into motorsport.

Laura Claesgens
BMW Group

Munich. With the BMW M235i Racing, BMW M240i Racing and BMW M2 CS Racing, at BMW M Motorsport, affordable and technically sophisticated entry-level cars into racing are a tradition. They are the perfect stepping stones to the higher GT4 and GT3 classes. Currently, BMW M Motorsport engineers are working on the development of a new car that will complete the portfolio of customer racing cars as an entry-level model into motorsport.