The #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8 won the second race of the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) season. Robin Frijns, René Rast, and Sheldon van der Linde triumphed after a six-hour thriller ahead of their teammates Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello, and Dries Vanthoor. It was the first overall victory for BMW M Motorsport since entering the World Endurance Championship for the 2024 season.

📷 © BMW at Spa-Francorchamps 2026. Winning BMW M Hybrid V8 #20

Bold strategy gives BMW #20 the lead

After a disappointing qualifying session on Saturday, the two BMW M Hybrid V8s started the race from only tenth and eleventh positions, but Magnussen made up important places right after the start, putting car #15 in a good position. Car #20 was initially stuck in eleventh place, but a bold strategy with a shorter first pit stop brought Rast to the front. From that point on, Rast, van der Linde, and Frijns showed impressive pace, built up a lead, and were able to take the lead during a yellow flag period, even after pit stops were accounted for. Frijns brought the car safely to the finish.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps 2026. Left: BMW M Hybrid V8 #20 is 11th at the end of lap 1 of the 6 hours of Spa-Francorchamps; right: penultimate safety car regrouping the pack with 40 minutes to go.

René Rast (BMW M Team WRT, #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8, 1st place): “This is a really great story for us. We’ve waited more than two years for this first win in the FIA WEC. Everyone at BMW M Motorsport and Team WRT has worked unbelievably hard for this. We were close before, and now it finally worked out. If someone had told me before the race, I wouldn’t have believed it, because we were still lacking a bit of pace in qualifying. I was stuck in traffic at first, but the team worked a miracle with its strategy and brought me to the front. With a clear track, our car just flew. This victory is something very special not only for BMW M Motorsport but also for Team WRT, after all, it’s their home race.”

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps 2026. Winning BMW M Hybrid V8 #20 with a serious margin ahead of penultimate caution.

Sheldon van der Linde (BMW M Team WRT, #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8, 1st place): “This is like a fairy tale for us. For the team, the win came at just the right time after more than two years in this project. And for me, it was my first victory in a WEC race – that’s incredible! Many thanks to my teammates, who always kept calm and did a perfect job. Our strategy was risky, because if the next yellow period had come at the wrong time, we would have dropped to the back of the field but it worked out perfectly.”

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps 2026. Last pit stop for Robin Frijns on board leading #20 BMW M Hybrid V8

Robin Frijns (BMW M Team WRT, #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8, 1st place): “As the final driver, I definitely felt the pressure to bring home the first victory. That’s why I was a bit more cautious than usual when lapping the GT cars. We’ve all worked a very long time for this moment. Now we’re at the front with both cars, and I’m very happy and especially proud of everyone who worked behind the scenes to make this happen.”

Magnussen in BMW #15 defend second place

Behind Frijns, Kevin Magnussen put up a fantastic fight and defended second place in style. The crew of car #15 made a strong comeback after Vanthoor spun following an unavoidable collision.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps 2026. BMW M Hybrid V8 #15 resist to Ferrari #50

Kevin Magnussen (BMW M Team WRT, #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, 2nd place): “It’s definitely the best second place I’ve ever had. Usually you’re not that happy about second place, but today – wow. A one-two for BMW M Team WRT. On the home track of WRT, a one-two for BMW – the first one in the Hypercar class in WEC. It’s just amazing. What a day, and what an effort from everyone! I’m so proud, and I’m so motivated to keep working from here, keep improving things, and getting more of this.”

Raffaele Marciello (BMW M Team WRT, #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, 2nd place): “It’s an amazing day. It was a great race for the team. The sister car had a very good strategy. We were a bit lucky with a virtual safety car, but in the end we were quite quick in the race, so we’re very happy with this one, too. We finally won a race. We finished 1-2, and it also looks good in the championship now, even if it is still early in the season.”

Dries Vanthoor (BMW M Team WRT, #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, 2nd place):
“Kevin did an amazing job; I think he’s the hero of the day. He had a great start and a great finish. Imola showed that we were doing a good job, and here we improved again. We’re making more steps. We still need to work hard, but we’re progressing well, especially in the race. And of course, the sister car winning, that’s what we were waiting for. It’s really nice to get a 1-2 and build from here – to give everyone in the project, the mechanics, everyone, a confidence boost. I’m super happy for everyone. A big thank you to everyone at BMW for always pushing forward and keeping going. It’s been tough at times, but we always kept going – and the team as well. When you keep working hard, the results will come, and I think that’s what we saw today.” Source: BMW

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps 2026. Double for both BMW M Hybrid V8

BMW M Team WRT currently leads both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ standings of the FIA WEC after two out of eight races.

Podium and valuable points for Ferrari

The Ferrari 499Ps tackled a difficult race with determination, as expected in the run-up to the event, a 6 Hours of Spa in which the crews sought to make the most of the available potential, taking advantage of the team’s error-free strategies.
A performance that allowed the official Ferrari – AF Corse team to leave Belgium having secured valuable points for the World Manufacturers’ Championship standings with the #50 crew.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps 2026. Ferrari 499P #50

The #50 499P, which started eighth, recovered ground during the opening two hours, climbing to third place with Miguel Molina. An issue during the second pit stop delayed Nicklas Nielsen’s opening stint, but the Dane then managed to climb significantly through the standings, handing over the 499P to Antonio Fuoco for the closing hours, with the Italian firmly establishing himself inside the top five. In the final drama-filled 60 minutes, which featured several neutralisations, Fuoco made the most of every opportunity to complete the team’s extraordinary work by finishing third, 2’’622 behind the winners.

Aston Martin Valkyrie achieves best world championship finish with fourth place

On its tenth appearance in WEC since making its debut in Qatar last year, the stunning British hypercar – in the hands of Tom Gamble and Harry Tincknell – crossed the line a mere five seconds behind the winner in a frantic and chaotic race that provided a grandstand finish; showcasing some of the best action that endurance motorsport has to offer.

The #007 Valkyrie brought itself into contention with two hours of the race to go, following clever strategic decisions and some spectacular overtaking by Tincknell. A timely Safety Car also allowed the team to top up with fuel and align its strategy with its rivals.

Tincknell delivered two brilliant passes in one lap, to go from tenth to eighth, and then when two more Safety Car periods occurred in the final hour, Gamble found himself in a five-car fight for second place. At the final restart he was lucky to avoid a spinning Alpine at Eau Rouge and then overtook a Toyota for fourth place in the last five minutesof the race in a breathless dash to the flag.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps 2026. Aston Martin Valkyrie #007

Harry Tincknell, driver #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie (WEC): “It was an unbelievable race. I said to myself in the first stint, just stay calm and save the fuel because it will come back to us. This championship and this racing create amazing things at this track. It was epic racing. I couldn’t be prouder of the boys and girls in this team who have worked so hard and improved the car so much from this time last year to now. It really showed in the race today, we weren’t always super-fast but at other points we were lightning and we will learn a lot from this and take it into Le Mans. The main thing is we were strong in sectors one and three, which are the sectors that most resemble Le Mans so it’s exciting.”

Tom Gamble, driver #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie (WEC): “I didn’t really expect that. With two hours to go we were P11 and I thought this is probably going to be a bit of an annoying race, with the strong pace we had; but then it all changed! Things panned outfor us with the Safety Cars at the end of the race and we were able to move forward. I had a close call in that last dash to the flag, and I think my life flashed before my eyes at Eau Rouge when the Alpine went off in front of me. I was ten inches away from a monumental crash, and then my heart was racing for a bit. We managed to get past the Toyota with a nice clean move, and there was some fantastic racing at the end for second place. I’m so proud of the team, to be so close to the leader at the end of the race and to have finished in the points twice in a row, and so strongly, is a great morale boost going into Le Mans.” Source: Aston Martin

#7 TR010 HYBRID from 12th to 5th

TOYOTA RACING challenged hard for a podium in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps before securing a double points-scoring finish in a dramatic second round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season.

The #7 TR010 HYBRID started the race from 12th and, despite the best efforts of Mike and Nyck, remained outside the top 10 during the opening stages. Incidents elsewhere and Kamui’s bold overtaking, moved the #7 into eighth. A safety car at the end of the fifth hour elevated the #7 into fourth and set up an exciting finale.

Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries finished fifth in their TR010 HYBRID, falling just short of the podium despite a late charge.

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): “To come away with fifth and 10th is quite decent considering our pace. We had some challenges today, but we did our best to get a good result and we managed to score points with both cars which is good for the World Championship. It was not an easy week, but we executed a strong team performance. Now we have some things to study and improve before Le Mans.”

Mike Conway (Driver, car #7): “It was probably better than we expected, honestly. At one point it looked like car #8 would do well with their strategy, but then they were unlucky. We had two different strategies, and two different results. I am happy to come away with fifth. It was nearly fourth, but we just didn’t have the pace. We scored some decent points and now we move on to Le Mans.”

Nyck de Vries (Driver, car #7): “I’ve got mixed feelings from that race. Car #8 had a good opportunity on their different strategy to fight for a great result, but they were unfortunate. We had a clean race, didn’t make mistakes and executed well, and then benefited from things happening in front of us. That brought us some good points, and we should be happy with that.”

Overall classification Hypercars