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Oschersleben (GER), 25-27 April 2025. DTM, ADAC Motorsport, Schubert Motorsport, #11 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Marco Wittmann, Schaeffler, #33 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, René Rast, RoboMarkets

DTM: Strong comebacks from Rast and Wittmann – Schubert Motorsport collects valuable points at home event.

Jeff Seabrook 2025 DTM Monday April 28, 2025

Solid start for the BMW M4 GT3 EVO and Schubert Motorsport in the 2025 DTM season. At the team's home event at Oschersleben (GER), René Rast (GER) drove the #33 RoboMarkets BMW M4 GT3 EVO to the best result of the weekend, finishing fifth in Sunday's race. Marco Wittmann (GER) displayed consistently strong performances in the #11 Schaeffler BMW M4 GT3 EVO, collecting many valuable points with eighth place on Saturday and sixth on Sunday.

Laura Claesgens

Oschersleben. Solid start for the BMW M4 GT3 EVO and Schubert Motorsport in the 2025 DTM season. At the team's home event at Oschersleben (GER), René Rast (GER) drove the #33 RoboMarkets BMW M4 GT3 EVO to the best result of the weekend, finishing fifth in Sunday's race. Marco Wittmann (GER) displayed consistently strong performances in the #11 Schaeffler BMW M4 GT3 EVO, collecting many valuable points with eighth place on Saturday and sixth on Sunday.

At the tight Motorsport Arena in Oschersleben, Rast and Wittmann impressed, especially on Sunday with strong comebacks. The track layout does not play to the strengths of the BMW M4 GT3 EVO, and both drivers struggled in qualifying. Rast started the second race from P15 and, thanks to a very strong first pit stop, was even on course for a podium at one point. However, during the newly introduced second mandatory stop, he fell back slightly and ultimately finished fifth. On Saturday, Rast had to retire due to a technical issue.

Wittmann made a comeback in both races. On Saturday, he started from tenth place and finished eighth, and on Sunday, he did even better, moving up seven places from 13th to sixth thanks to equally strong pit stops by his crew. With 18 points, Wittmann leaves the first DTM venue in seventh place in the drivers' standings, while Rast is twelfth with eleven points. As the defending champions, Schubert Motorsport is in fifth place in the team standings after two of 16 races with 29 points.

The ADAC GT4 Germany also kicked off its season at Oschersleben. The BMW M Motorsport teams achieved a total of six top-ten finishes with the new BMW M4 GT4 EVO.

Reactions after the race weekend:

Imola (ITA), 18th to 20th April 2025. BMW M Motorsport, FIA World Endurance Championship, FIA WEC, BMW M Team WRT, Hypercar, LMDh, hybrid, #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello, Dries Vanthoor.

FIA WEC: Tactical masterclass – #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 on the podium at Imola; second place also in the LMGT3 class.

Jeff Seabrook 2025 FIA WEC Sunday April 20, 2025

What a spectacular finale at the “6 Hours of Imola”, the second race of the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) season! Thanks to a tactical masterclass by BMW M Team WRT, the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8, driven by Robin Frijns (NED), René Rast (GER), and Sheldon van der Linde (RSA), finished in second place.

Andrea Schwab
BMW Group

Imola. What a spectacular finale at the “6 Hours of Imola”, the second race of the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) season! Thanks to a tactical masterclass by BMW M Team WRT, the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8, driven by Robin Frijns (NED), René Rast (GER), and Sheldon van der Linde (RSA), finished in second place. The crew of car #20 celebrated their first-ever podium in the FIA WEC – despite an early collision with another car and a repair in the pits. In the LMGT3 class, the #46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, starting from pole position, battled for the win. After a penalty and a fantastic comeback at the end, drivers Ahmad Al Harthy (OMA), Valentino Rossi (ITA), and Kelvin van der Linde (RSA) celebrated a second-place finish on the podium .

The 6-hour Imola race was turbulent for all BMW M Motorsport crews. The #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 started from 13th place but steadily moved up the order on the tight course. However, Rast collided with another car during an overtaking attempt, which was not his fault, severely damaging the rear wing. This required a complete rear section change during the subsequent pit stop, which the BMW M Team WRT crew accomplished in an extremely short time, thus limiting the time lost. Nevertheless, the journey from ninth place to the podium was long. To gain positions on the track, the team decided to shorten the penultimate refuelling stop, allowing them to take the lead. Van der Linde drove laps at qualifying pace to build enough time to overtake most competitors during their later final stops and cross the finish line in second place. The #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, with Kevin Magnussen (DEN), Raffaele Marciello (SUI), and Dries Vanthoor (BEL), started from third place and maintained that until the final hour of the race. However, the crew fell back due to performance issues and finished in sixth place.

In the LMGT3 class, the #46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO fought for the win right up to the finish line after an emotional rollercoaster. Al Harthy started from pole position and defended the lead during his double stint. Subsequent shifts in positions due to different strategies saw Rossi battling for first place with a Ferrari. During an overtaking attempt, he hit his opponent at the rear, for which the team received a stop-and-go penalty. That was followed by an impressive comeback by final driver van der Linde, who made up place after place and even closed the gap to the leading Porsche in the final laps. In a spectacular duel, he tried everything to snatch the victory but ultimately had to settle for second place. It was the second podium for the BMW M4 GT3 EVO in the second race of the season. The #31 crew with Augusto Farfus (BRA), Timur Boguslavskiy, and Yasser Shahin (AUS), who had finished third in Qatar, experienced a troubled race this time and finished twelfth after several incidents and penalties.

Comments after the race:

Long Beach (USA), 11-12 April 2025. IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, IWSC, #25 BMW M Hybrid V8, GTP, LMDh, BMW M Team RLL, Sheldon van der Linde, Marco Wittmann.

IMSA: Third pole position and first podium of the season for the BMW M Hybrid V8 in Long Beach.

Jeff Seabrook 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Sunday April 13, 2025

In terms of qualifying speed, the BMW M Hybrid V8 remains the benchmark in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC) season after three races. Dries Vanthoor (BEL) completed the pole position hat-trick at the street circuit in Long Beach (USA), following Daytona and Sebring (both USA), driving car number 24.

Andrea Schwab
BMW Group

Long Beach. In terms of qualifying speed, the BMW M Hybrid V8 remains the benchmark in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC) season after three races. Dries Vanthoor (BEL) completed the pole position hat-trick at the street circuit in Long Beach (USA), following Daytona and Sebring (both USA), driving car number 24. In the race, Vanthoor's teammate Philipp Eng (AUT) crossed the finish line in third place after 100 minutes, securing the first podium for BMW M Team RLL this season. Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) and Marco Wittmann (GER) finished fifth in the sister car after a strong comeback .

In qualifying, Vanthoor once again shone with an impressive lap time that secured him the pole position. Only van der Linde in the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 could match the pace, finishing second to complete the front row entirely in BMW M Motorsport's hands. In the race, both BMW M Team RLL cars initially took the lead, but they lost valuable positions during a pit stop in the first yellow phase. Particularly Wittmann, who took over the number 25 from van der Linde, had to fight hard to move up from tenth to fifth place. Eng only had to let the two Porsches at the front go and ultimately drove home a solid third place.

In the GTD class, Turner Motorsport competed with the #96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO. BMW M works driver Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher (both USA) finished in fifth place.

Comments after the race:

Le Castellet (FRA), 11-12 April 2025. GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, SRO, Circuit Paul Ricard, #992 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Paradine Competition, James Kellett, Pedro Ebrahim, Charles Clark.

Dream start to the GT World Challenge Europe season: Team WRT triumphs with the BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

Jeff Seabrook 2025 Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Sunday April 13, 2025

The start of the Endurance Cup season of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS could hardly have gone better from the perspective of BMW M Motorsport. The new BMW M4 GT3 EVO achieved an overall victory, a class win, and a podium finish in every category at the 6 Hours of Paul Ricard at Le Castellet (FRA).

Laura Claesgens
BMW Group

Le Castellet. The start of the Endurance Cup season of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS could hardly have gone better from the perspective of BMW M Motorsport. The new BMW M4 GT3 EVO achieved an overall victory, a class win, and a podium finish in every category at the 6 Hours of Paul Ricard at Le Castellet (FRA). The Team WRT trio of Charles Weerts, Ugo de Wilde (both BEL), and Kelvin van der Linde (RSA) celebrated their race win on the podium. In the Silver Cup, Paradine Competition drove the #992 BMW M4 GT3 EVO to victory, while car #991 finished second in the Bronze Cup. In the Gold Cup, AlManar Racing by Team WRT secured third place .

The #32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO started the race from ninth position but steadily improved throughout the race. As darkness fell and the track cooled down, the car got faster, and about 1:45 hours before the end, van der Linde took the lead which he confidently maintained until the finish. The South African celebrated his second prestigious victory with Team WRT after the Bathurst 12 Hour (AUS). It was also a particularly special triumph for Ugo de Wilde, as he managed to win right away in his debut as a BMW M works driver.

The Le Castellet race was a complete success for the BMW M Motorsport teams beyond the overall victory. Paradine Competition had double reason to celebrate. In the Silver Cup, the victory went to the #992 BMW M4 GT3 EVO driven by James Kellett, Charles Clark (both GBR), and Pedro Ebrahim (BRA). In the Bronze Cup, BMW M works driver Dan Harper, team owner Darren Leung (both GBR), and Sean Gelael (INA) in the #991 car finished second. In the Gold Cup, BMW M works driver Jens Klingmann (GER), Ben Tuck (GBR), and Al Faisal Al Zubair (OMA) in the #777 BMW M4 GT3 EVO from AlManar Racing by Team WRT celebrated a third-place finish.

ROWE Racing, starting from 13^th place with the #98 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, made a strong comeback and finished the race in sixth place with drivers Augusto Farfus (BRA), Jesse Krohn (FIN), and Raffaele Marciello (SUI). Century Motorsport finished fifth in the Silver Cup with car #42. Team WRT's car #30 and BMW Italia Ceccato Racing's car #15 retired early.