BMW has been everywhere you look at the Spa 24 Hours this year, with ‘home team’ WRT having by far the most elaborate garage and hospitality setups in the paddock, as well as pride of place in front of the Casino at Wednesday’s Spa town parade.
Alongside the familiar full-season Pro-class cars from WRT (#32, with Kelvin van der Linde, Charles Weerts and Ugo de Wilde) and ROWE (#98, with Augusto Farfus, Jesse Krohn and Raffaele Marciello), the Bavarian brand has bolstered its Ardennes assault with a one-off entry for Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon van der Linde and Marco Wittman (#31 WRT); as well as partnering young guns Dan Harper and Max Hesse with wily veteran Phillip Eng in the #998 ROWE car.
Then there’s the car garnering by far the most fan attention ahead of the race: the #46 with MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi and Danish ex-F1 driver Kevin Magnussen embarked, ably anchored by double Spa 24 Hours winner Rene Rast.
This marks the next phase of Magnussen’s post-F1 journey as a BMW works driver, with him having already piloted the brand’s LMDh machine at Daytona, Sebring and the opening World Endurance Championship rounds. It’s almost his first-ever time in a GT3 car, but he does have a 2022 Gulf 12 Hours start under his belt, recording a top 10 finish with father Jan.
“It’s fun, it’s very different to what I’m used to,” said Magnussen (left) after free practice on Thursday. “I’m on a mission to catch up with all these super-quick guys in the category. It’s a real challenge for me; I’m out of my comfort zone. Every reference I have at Spa is from F1, so I’m constantly adjusting.”
Interest in the #46 entry is of course also being driven by the presence of Magnussen’s illustrious co-driver Rossi. The Italian’s full-time programme this year sees him tackle the LMGT3 class in WEC rather than a full season of GT World Challenge as in 2024. “I hadn’t met him before this year; it’s really cool to be sharing a car with one of your sporting heros,” said Magnussen. “He’s a real legend on two wheels of course, but he’s also pretty handy in the GT3; it’s so impressive how he’s transitioned.”
Magnussen and Rossi are able to draw on two-time race winner Rast’s extensive GT3 experience – albeit this is his first time driving the M4 GT3 car at Spa. “I’m not the coach for them, though,” Rast said with a grin. “Kevin’s a very experienced driver, but obviously I’ve driven these cars a lot and if he has any questions, I can answer them. He’s done two full days at the Prologue test and I think he’s quite well sorted.
Rast is quietly confident of BMW’s chances this year. “Normally we’re always in the running in the longer races and we have a lot of cars on the grid. It’s always very crowded at Spa, but so far I have to say it’s been okay. The standard among the ‘gentleman’ drivers is higher than it has been in the past. I think there will still be a lot of safety cars, but you never know; Le Mans was very quiet this year, so we’ll see how it pans out.” Rast will take the start on Saturday, with Magnussen in for the second stint, followed by Rossi.
Across the WRT garage in another one-off entry, BMW factory stalwarts Vanthoor, Sheldon van der Linde and Wittmann are together in the #31 car. For Vanthoor, it’s a slightly strange feeling being back in the SRO paddock, as this is the first season since 2016 that the younger Vanthoor brother hasn’t contested the full GT World Challenge Endurance and Sprint schedules.
“It’s odd, yes, but I’m also really enjoying Hypercar duty,” he said. “I’m happy to come back and fight for victory here again. 75 cars on the grid is definitely cool, it’s what we all want and what the fans want, but it really puts the emphasis on avoiding the mayhem and just surviving. BMW’s strength overall is that we have a lot of cards to play with so many entries. We know what the car can do here; we just have to use it!”
Sheldon’s brother Kelvin van der Linde is anchoring WRT’s full-season #32 entry, alongside young guns de Wilde and Weerts. He joined his sibling on BMW’s books at the beginning of this season, having spent two years as a free agent following the winding-up of Audi’s factory driver programme. “It’s been really good so far, I’ve felt very welcome,” he told us. “And I have to say there are a lot of familiar faces from the Audi days, both drivers and elsewhere in the operation.”
Van der Linde is on something of a roll this season, having scooped Bathurst 12 Hours honours earlier in the year and Nurburgring 24 Hours victory just last weekend. “I’d love to add Spa in the same season; I’ve had a couple of podiums here, but never really had enough to win, so it’s something missing from my CV,” he noted. “I think we have the goods to do it; a dry race is forecast, which is always good for BMW; we tend to struggle a bit in the wet. We like the fast and flowing stuff rather than the tighter and more technical corners.”
“I don’t think a dry race will mean fewer interruptions or safety cars; I think we saw at the Nurburgring how chaotic it can be. The intensity of a race goes up when it’s dry, everyone’s pushing to the absolute limit and trying to eke out small differences. In mixed conditions, you can play with the strategy a bit, make some calls, but when it’s completely dry you just need to be 100% on point all the way through.”
At ROWE Racing, both Dan Harper and the team also arrive seeking a second sportscar victory in as many weekends. For years, this would almost certainly have meant the pair had triumphed together, but not this season. Spa will be the first time Harper competes for ROWE in 2025, following the Northern Irishman’s switch to the IMSA Sportscar Championship with Paul Miller Racing as his primary race programme.
“It was a shame to miss Nürburgring last week,” reflects Harper, who was absent from the race for the first time since he made his debut in 2020. “But we had a great weekend in Watkins Glen with our first win together with Max, and ROWE had a fantastic result winning at the Nürburgring, so the whole team’s in good spirits.”
Despite seven months having elapsed, slotting back into Rowe Racing’s setup is proving to be no problem for the 24-year-old. “It’s very easy,” he says. “All the teams BMW have, I’m familiar with most of them and they’re all really happy to have you. I know the ROWE guys well from the last three years, and they’re a great team and a great group of people.
“The mechanics haven’t changed much since I was last there, so it’s a nice environment. They work really well together, and they work very hard, so that’s important, and it’s really nice to be back.”
The last three seasons, Harper has headed to Spa inside the top six of the Endurance Cup drivers’ championship, and with a season-high 53 points available across the weekend, the Belgian round often proves decisive in determining where honours go at season’s end. As a one-off entrant this time around, the pressure to be near the front when points are awarded at the six and 12-hour marks has disappeared for Harper.
“Especially last year, winning the first round in Paul Ricard, we were sort of already like ‘Okay, we might have a chance in the championship if we have a good Spa’, Harper says. “So then you try to get the points at certain points. This year, that doesn’t matter.”
“We’ll approach it the same as any 24, where it’s really survival through the night, get to the next day, see if we’re in a good position, try to have a clean race. “I feel like together with Max, Philipp and Rowe we’ll be fast enough to be at the front, so we just need to be clean and we go for it then in the last few hours.
“We know we always have a competitive car here at Spa, but over 24 hours, there’s a lot of other things than a fast race car needed.”
