BMW wins 6 Hours of São Paulo as Magnussen takes first WEC victory

BMW M Team WRT scored its second FIA WEC win of the season at São Paulo, with the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor leading home the crew’s first-ever WEC triumph. A recovery drive by the sister #20 car put Robin Frijns and René Rast back on top of the drivers’ championship, while BMW also claimed a podium in the LMGT3 class.

The fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Interlagos delivered one of BMW M Motorsport’s strongest weekends of 2026. At the 6 Hours of São Paulo, the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 shared by Kevin Magnussen (DEN), Raffaele Marciello (SUI) and Dries Vanthoor (BEL) took the overall win, backing up the team’s earlier one-two at its home race in Spa-Francorchamps.

How the race was won

Starting from fourth on the grid, Magnussen moved up to second in the opening phase to keep the car in contention. After the final round of pit stops, closing driver Vanthoor found himself in the lead and held on to the finish. It marked the first FIA WEC victory for all three drivers in the #15 crew.

The sister #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8 produced the recovery of the day. Robin Frijns (NED), René Rast (GER) and Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) lined up only 16th after a difficult qualifying, but climbed to sixth by the flag. The result was enough for Frijns and Rast to reclaim the lead in the drivers’ standings on 75 points.

Championship picture

In the manufacturers’ standings, BMW M Motorsport now sits second on 127 points, five behind Toyota, according to the figures released by the team. With the drivers’ lead back in BMW hands and the manufacturers’ gap narrowed, the second half of the season shapes up as a close fight at the front of the Hypercar field.

Podium in LMGT3

BMW also had reason to celebrate in the GT ranks. In the #69 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Dan Harper (GBR), Parker Thompson (CAN) and Anthony McIntosh (USA) advanced from fourth on the grid to finish second, their first podium since winning the season opener at Imola. The #32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Augusto Farfus (BRA), Sean Gelael (INA) and Darren Leung (GBR) came home twelfth on Farfus’s home weekend.

“An incredible weekend here in Brazil,” said Andreas Roos, Head of BMW M Motorsport. “Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor did a perfect job – as did the team.”

Magnussen, who has been chasing a first endurance win since switching disciplines, said the car “was one of the fastest” on the day and that “the strategy was perfect, the pit stops too.”

The FIA WEC now heads into the second half of its season, with BMW carrying momentum on both the Hypercar and LMGT3 fronts.

Source: www.press.bmwgroup.com