BMW M Team WRT recovered from 16th on the grid to seventh in the penultimate round, while its second car lost ground to a penalty and a pit stop.
BMW M Team WRT finished seventh in the 6 Hours of Barcelona on Sunday, after its #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 climbed from 16th on the grid. The sister #20 car was penalised and finished 14th. Toyota secured the manufacturers' title with a one-two finish, and BMW M Motorsport keeps second place before the Monza finale.
BMW M Team WRT finished the 6 Hours of Barcelona with one car in the points and one out of contention. The #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 came through from 16th on the grid to finish seventh on Sunday, while the #20 sister car, which started 13th, finished no higher than 14th after a penalty and an unplanned stop. The race was the second-to-last round of the championship, run in changeable conditions.
Hypercar race
Kevin Magnussen made rapid progress on the wet track in the opening stages, but a ten-second penalty for contact with a rival meant he handed the car over to Dries Vanthoor in 13th. Vanthoor fought up to fifth as the circuit dried, though the car lost pace late on and slipped back to seventh. Raffaele Marciello made a brief refuelling stop a few laps from the end and brought the car home in that position.
Rene Rast, Sheldon van der Linde and Robin Frijns had a far harder race. Shortly after an early Safety Car period, the #20 car pitted because its tyre pressure was too low, and it then took a 20-second penalty. The crew dropped down the order and never got back into contention, ending 14th.
LMGT3 and the standings
In LMGT3, Dan Harper, Parker Thompson and Anthony McIntosh brought the #69 BMW M4 GT3 EVO from 15th on the grid to third place. It was Team WRT's third podium of the season. The sister #32 car, which had won at Fuji three weeks earlier, started sixth but slipped to 12th after a run of penalties.
With the season finale at Monza still to come, Magnussen and Marciello moved up to third in the drivers' standings, while Rast and Frijns are level on points in fourth. BMW M Motorsport kept second place in the manufacturers' standings, 24 points clear of third. Toyota clinched the manufacturers' championship with its one-two finish.
Andreas Roos, head of BMW M Motorsport, called the weekend disappointing. He said the Hypercars had lacked pace in qualifying, and that early strategy worked well until the #20 car's unplanned stop and penalty set it back. He singled out the #15 crew for a strong recovery and congratulated Toyota on its championship success. Team principal Vincent Vosse said the team had hoped for more, but had scored points and remained third and fourth in the drivers' standings. He described Toyota as being on another level on the day.
