WEC: BMW CONQUERS SPA IN HISTORIC WRT TRIUMPH
- Cavalieri Garage Magazine
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
BMW and WRT etched their names into FIA World Endurance Championship history by claiming a landmark victory at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The trio of Robin Frijns, René Rast and Sheldon van der Linde delivered the BMW No. 20 to its first overall WEC win, handing both the Bavarian manufacturer and Team WRT a historic breakthrough in the championship.
It was a dream result for the Belgian squad on home soil, as the sister BMW No. 15 of Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor completed an impressive one-two finish. Ferrari rounded out the podium with the No. 50 entry driven by Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina.
The race in the Ardennes truly came alive in the final two hours after an incident involving the Peugeot No. 94 dramatically altered the strategic picture. Malthe Jakobsen scattered debris across Les Combes following unavoidable contact with the Iron Lynx Mercedes No. 79, forcing race control to intervene.
The Virtual Safety Car proved to be the turning point of the entire race. BMW No. 20 and Toyota No. 8, driven by Ryo Hirakawa, capitalized on an alternative pit strategy and used the neutralization period to jump into first and second overall, ahead of the Alpine No. 35 and the second factory BMW.
With just over an hour remaining, another dramatic twist reshuffled the field once again. Ferrari No. 51, driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi, was caught in an incident at Turn 1 involving a GT car. The WRT BMW No. 32, possibly unsettled after contact with the Manthey Porsche No. 91, was unable to avoid the Ferrari 499P, triggering yet another Virtual Safety Car period.
The restart delivered even more chaos at Spa. Aston Martin No. 009, driven by Alex Riberas, slammed into the barriers at Les Combes after being forced onto the grass by the Alpine of Antonio Félix da Costa. Once the car touched the wet grass, Riberas lost control completely. Moments later, Da Costa himself made a mistake exiting Raidillon, hitting the wall and damaging his Alpine, although he managed to limp the car back to the pits.
The closing stages were packed with tension. Kevin Magnussen spent the final laps fending off relentless pressure from Antonio Fuoco, who was determined to put Ferrari back in contention for victory. The Danish driver held firm under pressure, securing a historic BMW one-two finish after several near-misses in previous seasons. Both BMW entries, however, remained under post-race investigation for a potential restart procedure infringement.
Ferrari ultimately crossed the line in third place, just 2.6 seconds behind the race winners, once again confirming the competitiveness of the 499P package. Aston Martin No. 007 finished fourth ahead of Toyota No. 7, Ferrari AF Corse No. 83, Peugeot No. 93, and most notably the impressive Genesis No. 17.
Genesis emerged as one of the biggest surprises of the race, scoring a Top 10 finish in only its second appearance in the championship, ahead of far more established manufacturers such as Cadillac and Toyota.
In LMGT3, the drama continued even after the checkered flag. The Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO No. 21 from VISTA AF Corse, initially victorious with Alessio Rovera behind the wheel, lost the win after receiving a five-second penalty for an unsafe release. The victory was therefore inherited by the Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO No. 10 driven by Antares Au, Tom Fleming and Marvin Kirchhöfer.
For Garage 59, it marked the team’s first win of the season after the disappointment suffered at Imola. Joining them on the podium were the Heart of Racing Aston Martin No. 27 of Ian James, Zach Robichon and Mattia Drudi, along with the Manthey Porsche No. 92 driven by Yasser Shahin, Richard Lietz and Riccardo Pera.
The Ferrari of François Heriau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera ultimately finished fourth in class, ahead of the second Garage 59 McLaren No. 58, the Akkodis ASP Lexus No. 87, and the Manthey Porsche No. 91.
Attention now turns to the next major event on the endurance racing calendar: the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans, scheduled for the weekend of June 14, with the traditional Test Day set to officially kick off the most important week of the endurance racing season.
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