BMW announces its drivers for the WEC Hypercar category

After IMSA, BMW revealed this Wednesday, January 17, the identity of the drivers who will sit behind the wheel of the two M Hybrid V8s entered in the Hypercar category of the World Championship.Endurance 2024. Raffaele Marciello and Marco Wittmann will be associated with Dries Vanthoor in the No. 15 of Team WRT, while Robin Frijns and René Rast will support Sheldon van der Linde in the No. 20.

BMW M Motorsport @followWRT's Hypercar lineup is straight fire! Let the WEC season roll! 🔥 #WEC #lemans24h pic.twitter.com/v7TD3WSVAB

— BMW M Motorsport (@BMWMotorsport) January 17, 2024

« We will participate in the 2024 WEC season in the Hypercar category with a very strong selection made among our top-level factory drivers, says Andreas Roos, Head of Motorsport at BMW M. We have combined driving qualities with experience, that of our LMDh prototype on the one hand, that of the championship and particularly of the 24 Hours of Le Mans of another. Like Sheldon van der Linde, Marco Wittmann has already driven the BMW M Hybrid V8 in IMSA. Everyone else, including our rookie Raffaele Marciello, had the opportunity to test it and will continue to do so intensely in the coming months. »

« I'm really looking forward to this major challenge with BMW M Team WRT, Marciello says. Fighting for victories and titles in the FIA ​​WEC, with so many big manufacturers up against it, is exactly what I was looking for. It’s fantastic to be able to ride with Dries Vanthoor, after being rivals on the track for several years. And having a BMW M Motorsport legend like Marco Wittmann with us is great. I hope to learn from both. »

« I gained experience in the LM P2 category of the WEC, with the objective of racing in the Hypercar category, adds Robin Frijns, winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (LM P2) with WRT in 2021. I now have the opportunity with BMW M Motorsport and I am absolutely delighted. Everyone is working hard on this project to make sure we have a good foundation that we can build on to start the season and hopefully get a few podiums. I’m obviously looking forward to the big event: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. My teammates René and Sheldon are great guys that I know well from DTM. I'm going to ride alongside two champions, what could go wrong? »

The 2024 WEC season will begin on March 2 with the 1812 km of Qatar.

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