BMW M Motorsport Team WRT has finalised its driver line-up for the two cars it will field in the 2024 Hypercar class of WEC.
BMW M Motorsport has completed its squad of BMW M works drivers who will line up in the Hypercar class when the manufacturer returns to the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) in 2024.
Dries Vanthoor (BEL) and Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) had already been confirmed, and are now joined in the top class of the FIA WEC by Raffaele Marciello (SUI), Marco Wittmann (GER), Robin Frijns (NED) and René Rast (GER) in the two BMW M Hybrid V8s run by BMW M Team WRT.
Vanthoor will alternate at the wheel of the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 with BMW M Motorsport newcomer Marciello and Wittmann. Van der Linde shares the driving duties in the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 with Frijns and Rast.
Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “We compete in the 2024 WEC season with a very strong selection from our high-class works driver squad in the Hypercar class. We have combined driving excellence with experience in the two BMW M Hybrid V8s – on the one hand experience with our LMDh car, on the other hand experience of the race series and Le Mans in particular. Like Sheldon van der Linde, Marco Wittmann has already driven the BMW M Hybrid V8 in the IMSA series. All the other drivers – including our newcomer Raffaele Marciello – have already tested the car and will continue to do so intensively in the coming months.”
Vincent Vosse (Team Principal BMW M Team WRT): “With our driver line-up in the Hypercar class, we have something of a dream team. We have worked with Sheldon van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor, Robin Frijns, and also René Rast for many years and know them very well. Marco Wittmann and Raffaele Marciello are new to us, but the first joint tests have gone very well. Now we as a team will be under quite a bit of pressure, because with these drivers we certainly do not lack speed in the cockpit.”
Raffaele Marciello (#15 BMW M Hybrid V8): “I am really looking forward to taking on this major challenge together with BMW M Team WRT. Challenging for race wins and titles in the FIA WEC, with so many big manufacturers, is exactly the challenge I was hoping for. Having been opponents on the racetrack for years, it is fantastic to now drive alongside Dries Vanthoor. And to have a BMW M Motorsport legend like Marco Wittmann on your side is fantastic. I hope to learn from the two of them.”
Marco Wittmann (#15 BMW M Hybrid V8): “It is both a pleasure and an honour for me to be part of the WEC squad. Having already driven the BMW M Hybrid V8 in a few races in the IMSA series, I am extremely excited about the Hypercar class in the FIA WEC. There is a lot of genuine hype around this class in 2024, with so many manufacturers and top-class drivers.
“It is fantastic to be a part of it. The challenge is huge, but I believe we are very well positioned with the BMW M Hybrid V8, BMW M Team WRT, the BMW M Motorsport engineers, and my extremely quick team-mates. The 24 Hours of Le Mans has always been on my bucket list. To drive in the top class in 2024, and hopefully challenge for victory, is a dream come true.”
Robin Frijns (#20 BMW M Hybrid V8): “I have worked very successfully with BMW M Team WRT for many years. I have gained experience in the LMP2 class of the FIA WEC – always with the goal of starting in the Hypercar class. I now have that opportunity with BMW M Motorsport, and am absolutely thrilled.
“Everyone is working very hard on the project to ensure that we have a good basis at the start of the season on which we can build and hopefully pick up a few podiums. I am obviously particularly looking forward to the mega event at Le Mans. My team-mates René and Sheldon are both super guys who I know well from the DTM. I am driving alongside two champions – what could possibly go wrong?”
René Rast (#20 BMW M Hybrid V8): “Driving for BMW M Motorsport in the Hypercar class is the start of a new chapter for me. I have driven for Audi in a few individual races in the top FIA WEC class in the past, but never a full season. After that, I raced in the LMP2 class. It is awesome to now be part of a new golden era of endurance racing. I am very much looking forward to the challenge and believe we will be competitive with BMW M Team WRT, the team of engineers at BMW M Motorsport, and the squad of drivers we have.”
[Note: The story is as per press release]
