BMW M Motorsport kicked off the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship season with the highly anticipated Qatar 1812 km race at the Lusail International Circuit near Doha, UAE. This year, BMW M Team WRT entered into the Hypercar class with two BMW M Hybrid V8s. However, the debut race proved challenging for the prototypes, as both cars finished outside the top ten.
In the Hypercar class, the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8, piloted by an international trio of BMW M works drivers – Sheldon van der Linde from South Africa, René Rast from Germany, and Robin Frijns from the Netherlands – managed to secure a 12th place finish. Their teammates, Dries Vanthoor from Belgium, Raffaele Marciello from Switzerland, and Marco Wittmann from Germany, faced additional hurdles with the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8. A brief repair in the pitbox, required just an hour before the race’s conclusion, saw them finishing in 16th position, underscoring the challenges faced by the team in the Hypercar category.
Porsche Penske Motorsport secured its first FIA World Endurance Championship victory for the Porsche 963. No. 12 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche finishing second and the No. 5 Penske Porsche in third. No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R came in fourth.
BMW M4 GT3 Misses Podum By Seconds
In the LMGT3 class, Team WRT #46 BMW M4 GT3, with an impressive lineup including Italian racing legend Valentino Rossi, Maxime Martin from Belgium, and Omani driver Ahmad Al Harthy, finished in fourth place, narrowly missing out on the top three by just a few seconds.
Additionally, the #31 BMW M4 GT3, consisting of BMW M works driver Augusto Farfus from Brazil, Sean Gelael from Indonesia, and Darren Leung from Great Britain, also showed promise by finishing in sixth position in the LMGT3 class. In the LMGT3 class, Manthey PureRxcing secured the victory with the No. 92 Porsche 911 GT3 R. No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo finished only 4.8 seconds behind.
