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The #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8 laid down a determined drive at the FIA World Endurance Championship’s six-hour battle in São Paulo, converting fifth on the grid into fifth at the flag and proving its mettle in the Brazilian heat. Standing in for Formula E-bound Robin Frijns, Sheldon van der Linde lined the prototype up on row three, having squeezed every ounce of pace from the hybrid powertrain during qualifying. Team-mates René Rast and Marco Wittmann then kept the car firmly in the leading pack throughout the opening stints, steering clear of traffic and managing tyre wear with precision.
A mid-race drive-through penalty briefly pushed the red-liveried BMW down the order, yet the crew’s slick pit work and faultless strategy hauled it back into contention. In the closing minutes, van der Linde reeled in the Peugeot ahead, launching a late-braking move into Turn 1 that sealed a hard-earned fifth place and the tag of best non-factory finisher on the day.
Not everything ran smoothly in the sister garage. The #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor rolled out from eighth but limped back to the box within the opening laps when a brake issue surfaced. A 45-minute rebuild got the car back on track, yet it could salvage only 17th after circulating fault-free but out of sequence.
BMW’s LMGT3 runners endured a similarly dogged afternoon. Valentino Rossi’s #46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO clawed its way from 14th to tenth, while Augusto Farfus brought the #31 machine home 12th in front of his home crowd. Both crews executed clean pit cycles and consistent lap times, but outright pace remained elusive against class frontrunners.
Post-race, BMW M Motorsport boss Andreas Roos hailed the #20 squad’s “maximum return” and vowed a deep dive into the brake gremlins that derailed the #15 entry. Team Principal Vincent Vosse echoed the sentiment, labelling the top-five finish “best of the rest” yet reiterating the ambition to fight for podiums.
With a short breather before Austin, BMW M Team WRT heads back to Europe, encouraged by the Shell-backed prototype’s reliability and race craft, ready to unlock the extra tenths needed to put the M Hybrid V8 firmly in podium contention.
