BMW has ended a 27-year absence from the highest step of the rostrum on the pinnacle of worldwide endurance racing, by clinching a memorable triumph in at present’s TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
The ‘Ardennes Rollercoaster’ invariably generates thrilling motion, and the second spherical of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship marketing campaign was no exception. BMW M Workforce WRT – based mostly simply up the highway close to Liège – started the six-hour contest in entrance of a record-breaking Spa crowd of 101,606 enthusiastic followers from simply tenth and eleventh on the Hypercar class grid, however an audacious technique and a stroke of luck proved to be key to the squad’s success.
In a race that featured no fewer than 4 security automobile interventions, BMW elected to roll the cube in the course of the first spherical of pit-stops on the finish of the opening hour, short-fuelling the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 to vault René Rast into the lead. A brand new quickest lap for the skilled German subsequently prolonged that benefit, earlier than he handed over to team-mate Sheldon van der Linde at one-quarter distance.
In clear air, the South African maintained the momentum as he unleashed a equally spectacular turn-of-speed, and a neutralisation 4 hours in enabled the crew to get again in sync with their rivals – whereas crucially retaining first place.
Robin Frijns elevated the margin within the last phases because the pursuing pack squabbled frenetically in his wake. With Kevin Magnussen producing a defensive masterclass in opposition to rivals Ferrari and Toyota within the sister #15 BMW the Dane shares with residence hero Dries Vanthoor and Raffaele Marciello, the Bavarian model was in a position to rejoice a well-known one-two end – its first outright victory in world endurance racing because the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1999.
“It is an unbelievable story for us,” enthused race-winner, Rast, who in tandem with Frijns, now tops the Drivers’ title desk, whereas BMW has leapt to the summit of the Producers’ standings. “It’s been a very long time within the making – we’ve been ready for this second for the final two or three years. Everyone has labored so laborious, and to rejoice our first win in Belgium, the place WRT is at residence, is one thing very particular.
“The group pulled off a miracle when it comes to technique. They put me in entrance, after which the automobile was simply flying and in clear air, we had nice tempo. We had nice pit-stops, we made no errors and we had no contact. It’s simply a tremendous day!”
After failing to overtake Magnussen for the runner-up spoils, Antonio Fuoco narrowly held off a fired-up Kamui Kobayashi to ascend the underside step of the podium alongside Ferrari AF Corse team-mates Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina, with the #50 trio ruing a wheel nut problem throughout a pit-stop in the direction of the top of the second hour that price them 20 seconds.
In LMGT3, there was redemption for Storage 59 – which had on-course for victory on its championship debut in final month’s Imola curtain-raiser till struggling an alternator failure barely half-an-hour from the chequered flag. The #10 McLaren piloted by Tom Fleming, Marvin Kirchhöfer and Antares Au scythed by means of the 18-car area from fifteenth on the grid to triumph in Belgium, making the most of a late-race five-second penalty for VISTA AF Corse’s #21 Ferrari.
Subsequent up on the FIA WEC calendar is the collection’ flagship occasion, the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans in France on 10-14 June.
