BMW "proud of what we achieved" after securing runner-up in 2026 WEC

BMW says it can be "proud" of its results in the 2026 World Endurance Championship after finishing second in the manufacturers' standings, despite failing to mount a sustained title challenge to Toyota.

Kevin, Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor ended an eventful Monza 6 Hours in fifth in the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, while the sister #20 entry shared by Rene Rast, Robin Frijns and Sheldon van der Linde was classified in seventh.

Reflecting on a campaign that featured two victories and three further podium finishes in Hypercar, BMW motorsport boss Andreas Roos said that the 2026 season finale provided a positive conclusion.

"In the last years, we came back into [the top class of] sports car racing for BMW for the first time since 1999," Roos said.

"And now fighting with Toyota, which is in the championship without any break since 2012, I think it's a great achievement and we can be proud.

"It's a big thank you to everybody who is involved from the team, the drivers, also all the people in Munich at BMW Motorsport who work so hard every single day to get this forward.

"The fact that both cars went into the finale level on points underlines just how evenly matched and strong both crews are. We can build on that. We are looking forward to the new season and want to come back even stronger to fight for victory at Le Mans and for the world championship."

#15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8

WRT team principal Vincent Vosse echoed those thoughts, claiming that while the team always targets titles, finishing second and third in such a fiercely contested world championship is a very good result.

In Sunday's six-hour finale, after a difficult qualifying session, both BMW M Hybrid V8s made remarkable comebacks in the race. The #15 had to overcome a drive-through penalty for overtaking under VSC conditions and a late spin that might have cost a possible fourth-place.

"It was a wild race with plenty of ups and downs for us. Unfortunately, I received a drive-through penalty for overtaking under yellow flags, but my team-mates did an excellent job of making up for it," Magnussen said.

"We came here to secure second place in the manufacturers’ standings and third place in the drivers’ standings. We achieved both. We can therefore be very satisfied with the season."

Marciello admitted to mixed emotions after BMW's world championship aspirations fell through due to difficult races in Austin and Barcelona when main rival Toyota scored big.

"Considering where we started, this is a very good result at Monza. Second place in the manufacturers’ standings is a great result, as is third place in the drivers’ standings," the Swiss-Italian said.

#15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello, Dries Vanthoor

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey / LAT Images via Getty Images

"However, I have mixed feelings because, when you have been fighting for the title for so long, you get used to being in that position and are a little disappointed when you ultimately fall just short."

The #20 car BMW shared by Frijns, Rast and Van der Linde enjoyed an even stronger run early on at Monza, running in the podium positions for a time before a familiar technical bug reared its head.

Once more a BMW Hybrid V8 ran into braking troubles, leading to multiple lock-ups for Frijns and even dropping the car out of the points. Late-race penalties and accidents for rivals elevated the #20 back to seventh in the official result.

"We had some technical issues on car #20 that we need to analyse. It is linked to the hybrid, but exactly where and how [we don't know]," Vosse said.

"Of course, it has an impact on braking inconsistency. We could see it coming, and while our strategy was going well and the pace was strong, it got worse toward the end."

It is the second time this year that the braking problems, which plagued the car way back in its infancy, returned with the 2026 evo version after WRT lost a possible victory at the Road America IMSA race back in August due to a braking failure. It is still unclear whether those issues are related.

#20 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Rene Rast, Robin Frijns

Rast shared his frustration over the lost opportunity, losing a possible podium and maybe even a chance of a race victory.

"The race started well. At one stage, we were on course for the podium, but we encountered some technical problems in the closing stages that dropped us back. That is a shame because we deserved a podium finish," the German said.

"Nevertheless, we can be satisfied overall with our successes and the progress we made this season. We can build on that and hopefully do even better next year."

BMW's factory partner WRT achieved a remarkable result as well by scoring a win with all of its four cars across the two classes.

Meanwhile, Roos already made a strong statement for 2027: "We did not achieve our main objective: we wanted to fight at the very front both at Le Mans and in the World Championship. Unfortunately, we did not manage to do that. For 2027, we want to improve further so that we can compete at the very front."

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