BMW reveal ‘bittersweet’ feelings after second place at Le Mans
- Owen Bradley
- 6 minutes ago
- 5 min read
The No.20 WRT BMW squad finished in second place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, their best result at the iconic endurance Race. However, despite recording an impressive result, the team has now revealed its bittersweet feelings after coming so close to victory.
The No.7 Toyota squad, consisting of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries, walked away from the Le Mans 24 Hours as the overall winners after a Race-long battle against the No.20 WRT BMW squad, the sister No.8 Toyota and the No.12 JOTA Cadillac team.
Robin Frijns drove the No.20 WRT BMW across the line to finish in second place, just over 10 seconds behind the No.7 Toyota that won the Race. However, despite the initial jubilation of securing a podium finish at Le Mans, the team consisting of Frijns, René Rast and Sheldon van der Linde has now expressed mixed emotions following the event’s conclusion.
A few hours after the Race had finished and the dust had settled, speaking to BMW, Frijns stated: “I honestly don’t quite know what to say yet. Second place at Le Mans is a fantastic achievement, but seeing the victory so close does hurt a bit. The last safety car brought the Toyotas, who had problems just before, back into the game.
"That was tough for us, as they had a bit more pace than we did. We led for long stretches of the race, but in the end, second place was the maximum we could achieve after the safety car.”
Both of the Toyotas carved their way back through the field after the No.7 qualified in 12th position and the No.8 started the Race from eighth place. In the final hour, Frijns managed to overtake the No.8 Toyota of Sébastien Buemi and began chasing the leading No.7 of Kobayashi.
However, despite cutting the initial 20-second lead in half to just over 10 seconds at the finish line, it was not quite enough for Frijns and BMW to challenge for the lead. The team had led at Le Mans throughout the Race and was in contention to win straight away when the green flag was waved, with the No.20 BMW leading on the opening lap with Rast at the wheel.
Speaking about the second-place finish, Rast said: “It’s a bittersweet podium. On the one hand, it’s a great achievement to be on the podium at Le Mans. The team and we as drivers did everything right, I would say. But unfortunately, Le Mans didn’t choose us as winners this time. We led for long phases of the race, but the last safety car threw our strategy off a bit, and when you’re so close to victory, of course you want to win.”
This was BMW’s third attempt at winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Hypercar class, and the manufacturer came narrowly close to winning the event for the first time in 27 years. On a more positive note, this was also BMW’s first time finishing inside the top 10 in the Hypercar class, let alone finishing up on the podium and almost taking home the big trophy.
Talking about finishing as runners-up, van der Linde stated: “At first, I didn't really know whether to laugh or cry. When you finish just ten seconds behind the winner after 24 hours, it’s not easy to accept at first. But if we look at the past two years and see the huge progress we’ve made, we can be very proud. The team gave everything to put us in this position. Of course, you never know if you’ll get another chance to win Le Mans, but we’ll definitely try again.”
Across the other side of the garage, the pole-sitting No.15 WRT BMW Hypercar was forced into retirement after contact with the No.3 DKR Engineering LMP2 car, which caused a puncture and subsequently more internal damage to the machine.
Speaking about the disappointment, Kevin Magnussen said: "It just wasn’t our race. A few things went wrong, but that’s also Le Mans. Luckily, our sister car made up for our bad luck and scored a fantastic podium. That’s ultimately a great success for all of us. As for us in car No.15: We’ll come back stronger."
The No.15 BMW entry’s best result after three attempts at winning Le Mans was in 2025 with a 31st-place finish, 26 Laps down on the winner. BMW has consistently faced poor fortune across all classes since challenging at Le Mans with its Hypercar.
In the LMGT3 class, it was a crushing disappointment for rising sports car star Dan Harper, who made his debut at the event. Unfortunately for Harper and the No.69 WRT BMW crew, they were forced to retire from the 24 Hours of Le Mans after a gearbox issue.
Speaking about his debut and the devastating DNF, Harper stated: “I had imagined my first Le Mans, just like Parker and Anthony, differently. But you also have to see it this way: I was here for the first time at this very special event, and it was an honour to be part of it. Hopefully, there will be many more Le Mans appearances to come! This time, unfortunately, we didn’t have the pace to run at the front. Then came the gearbox problem. Nevertheless, we can be proud of what we achieved.”
The No.32 WRT BMW fared slightly better, finishing in seventh position in the LMGT3 class, although it appears that BMW was largely unable to find meaningful pace to challenge at the front of the field in the LMGT3 class.
Team Principal of WRT, Vincent Vosse, revealed: “That was one of the strongest races we have ever had as a team with the BMW M Hybrid V8. Absolutely flawless. No penalties, no bad pit stops – nothing. Congratulations to everyone in my team and at BMW M Motorsport! We are one unit, we are making progress, and we deserved this podium."
He added: “I’m not disappointed at all that we didn’t win. Toyota deserved it – congratulations! I feel sorry for the crew of car No.15. On the LMGT3 side, we have to admit that we simply had no chance. That is very disappointing. Many thanks to the team and drivers for their great effort. They gave everything, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough this time.”
BMW and WRT will next be racing in the 24 Hours of Spa, the flagship event of the GT World Challenge Europe season, where Valentino Rossi, Harper and Max Hesse look to challenge for victory in the Pro class driving the No.46 BMW, while Jordan Pepper, Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts also challenge for victory in the Pro class driving the No.32 BMW.
Edited By: Pranav Sharma
