
BMW had waited a long time for this victory in the Bathurst 12-hour race, the Australian endurance classic. Their last win was in 2010, before the GT3 era.

Last weekend, the Belgian BMW customer racing team, Team WRT, delivered a flawless performance, securing first and second place with their two KW V6 Racing-equipped BMW M4 GT3s.

The brothers Sheldon and Kelvin van der Linde shared the cockpit in a BMW M4 GT3 (#32) for the first time. Augusto Farfus completed the driver lineup in the #32 car.

The trio delivered a flawless performance throughout the 12-hour race, which always begins in the early, dark Australian morning hours at Mount Panorama Circuit. The #32 car dominated for much of the race.

Kelvin van der Linde ultimately drove the #32 BMW M4 GT3 across the finish line for the victory. In the final hour, the BMW team nervously awaited the finish, hoping no safety car periods would jeopardize the first Bathurst 12 Hours overall win for the BMW M4 GT3.

The result was even better, as the sister car, the #46, driven by Raffaele Marciello, Valentino Rossi, and Charles Weerts, finished in second place!

This almost didn’t happen, as the #46 car received a drive-through penalty for an overtaking maneuver under a yellow flag halfway through the race, dropping the BMW M4 GT3 to eighth place overall.

The #46 then encountered traffic, made contact with the wall in the pits, but ultimately staged a remarkable comeback with spectacular overtaking maneuvers. The BMW M4 GT3 (#46) finished in second place, just ten seconds behind the winner. Congratulations!

Interestingly, the BMW M4 GT3s fielded by Team WRT were not the new EVO models! This further demonstrates the excellent GT3 customer sports car that BMW M Motorsport developed in 2021.
In addition to the two BMW M4 GT3s fielded by Team WRT, the Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (#911), The Bend Motorsport Park Porsche 911 GT3 R (#91), and the Volante Rosso Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR Evo (#14), all equipped with KW V6 Racing shocks, competed in Australia.

Matt Campbell, Ayhancan Güven, and Alessio Picariello, driving the #911, were the highest-finishing Porsche team at this year’s Bathurst event, taking sixth place.

Laurin Heinrich, Sam Shahin, Yasser Shahin, and Morris Schuring drove their Porsche 911 GT3 R (#91) to tenth place overall.

Jamie Day, Jaylen Robotham, and Mateo Villagomez finished 13th overall in their Volante Rosso Motorsport Aston Martin (#14).
Photo BMW M Motorsport, RaceProject, KW und Volante Rosso