The Asian Le Mans Series closed out its 2025/2026 season with four races in the United Arab Emirates over the last few weeks, with a pair of races in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Team WRT took two wins in those four races, but came up short in the final championship tally.
The first race in Dubai didn’t go all that well for the BMW team. The best result was a sixth place in the GT class for the #28 M4 GT3 EVO of Gabriele Plana, Sergey Stolyarov and Augusto Farfus, with the win going to the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3. The #69 M4 GT3 EVO of Dan Harper, Parker Thompson and Anthony McIntosh suffered a DNF.
The #69 Team WRT BMW on it’s way to a win in Dubai. [Photo courtesy Team WRT]
After the DNF in race one at Dubai, the Harper, Thompson, McIntosh trio had a much better race two, taking the win after a close fight with the #87 Porsche 911 GT3 R. The #69 moved up into second position behind the Porsche late in the race, with WRT working their magic in the pits to put the car out ahead of the #87 Porsche. Dan Harper held the lead despite pressure from the Porsche, taking the win by a gap of just 0.881 seconds. “I was giving it everything, the whole stint to try keeping behind,” said Harper. “I knew, similar, to be honest, like my last stint in Daytona, where I knew if he got right on my bumper, that he would most likely get me just due to better brake performance, things like that. But our car has its own strengths, and I made sure to utilize those to keep the gap where it was.” The #28 BMW had a DNF in race two at Dubai.
Team WRT carried the momentum from the Dubai win to Abu Dhabi this past weekend, with the #69 BMW getting the win and the #28 car following in second, after qualifying in fifth and sixth. The BMW both showed more pace as the sun went down and the track temperature cooled off, after a Mercedes-AMG held the lead for much of the first two hours. “All in all, hats off to the WRT crew,” said Parker Thompson. “They’ve done a phenomenal job in this championship. I mean, second in Malaysia, first in Dubai, and now first in Abu Dhabi. You can’t really expect more. In any other year, that would probably be what it takes to lock up the championship, not be 22 points behind it. So, we’ll see tomorrow as a famous movie quote once said, ‘so you’re telling me there’s a chance!’
The #28 Team WRT BMW finished second in race one at Abu Dhabi. [Photo courtesy Team WRT]
The final four-hour race of the season was a different story than the first, with the BMWs starting fifth and sixth but ending up finishing seventh (#28) and tenth (#69), after the race was red-flagged for a long period within the first hour when a wreck between other cars resulted in damage to the armco that required a lengthy repair. The GT win went to the #56 Ecurie Ecosse Aston Martin Vantage GT3, and the season championship went to the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari crew. The #69 BMW team was the primary competitor to the Ferrari going into the finale, but the tenth-place finish by #69 allowed the Ferrari to keep the points lead and the championship.
Anthony McIntosh (left), Parker Thompson (middle) and Dan Harper celebrate victory in Abu Dhabi. [Photo courtesy Asian Le Mans Series]
Despite coming up short in the championship, it was a strong season for WRT, with wins at Sepang, Dubai and Abu Dhabi and second place in the overall GT class championship. The trio of Dan Harper, Parker Thompson and Anthony McIntosh will now turn the attention to the FIA World Endurance Championship, where they will compete in an M4 GT3 EVO for Team WRT. The FIA WEC season opens in Qatar on the weekend of March 26th-28th.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy WRT, Asian Le Mans Series]
