BMW M Team WRT has been successfully racing the M4 GT3 in the 2023 season and will be adding their program with the M Hybrid V8 in the 2024 season, in addition to continuing with the M4 GT3. The team will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2024, with two M Hybrid V8 prototypes in the Hypercar class and two M4 GT3 entries in the LMGT3 class.
The first drivers for both programs have been announced, with Dries Vanthoor and Sheldon van der Linde named as the first two drivers for the Hypercar class. Van der Linde already has experience in the M Hybrid V8 in IMSA, as he drove with BMW Team RLL in the Daytona, Sebring and Petit Le Mans races this season. Vanthoor will be driving with BMW M Team RLL at the Daytona race in 2024, and will also be competing against his brother, Porsche works driver Laurens Vanthoor, in 2024.
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- Dries Vanthoor will move up from GT cars to top-level prototypes for the first time in 2024.
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- Sheldon van der Linde will do the full WEC season in the M Hybrid V8 after a trio of IMSA races in 2023.
In LMGT3, Augusto Farfus and nine-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi were named as the first two M4 GT3 drivers. Farfus, of course, has a vast level of experience in GT cars and with the M4 GT3. With his participation in the full WEC season in 2024, it remains to be seen if he’ll be back as a driver in the M Hybrid V8 in IMSA in 2024, though he is on the initial entry list for the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January. There’s one weekend where the FIA WEC and IMSA series conflict, on May 11th when WEC is racing at Spa and IMSA is racing at Laguna Seca. Rossi has been racing GT cars for a few years now and gained a lot of experience in the M4 GT3 in 2023, most notably winning his first Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe race with co-driver Maxime Martin at Misano.
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- Augusto Farfus will bring his vast level of experience to the WEC LMGT3 class.
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- Valentino Rossi will drive the #46 M4 GT3 in the LMGT3 class in 2024.
The LMGT3 class has some big changes for 2024, as the GTLM class that featured works drivers and programs has been done away with in favor of LMGT3, which uses GT3 spec cars and requires amateur-rated drivers alongside the pro works drivers. “What a privilege for us as a team to be able to field both two BMW M Hybrid V8s and two BMW M4 GT3s for BMW M Motorsport in the FIA WEC,” said WRT Team Principal Vincent Vosse. “While we have two separate crews for the two projects, it will still be a significant challenge for WRT. But we love challenges! The drivers who will be working with us, we already know very well from previous joint racing commitments. Starting with Valentino Rossi in the FIA WEC is something truly special. We talked about this at our very first meetings. Now, this circle is closing, and it feels like we’ve already ticked most of the boxes we discussed back then.”
The 2024 FIA WEC season opens at Qatar on March 2nd, and the series will compete in the US at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas on September 1st. —David Haueter
[Photo courtesy BMW, SRO and David Haueter]
