BMW celebrates season-opening victory as Team WRT triumphs at Circuit Paul Ricard

The Belgian squad's #32 car was not a serious contender in qualifying but began to make up positions as soon as the action got underway. It ran fifth by the time the first round of pit stops began and had climbed to second by half distance, with Charles Weerts and Ugo De Wilde alternating at the controls.

Kevin van der Linde was installed at the wheel for the final two-hour run to the chequered flag, emerging within a second of the #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche which had led from the two-hour mark. The South African driver was immediately on the attack, shadowing Patric Niederhauser through the final sequence of corners before drawing alongside and completing his pass into Turn 1.

Niederhauser was initially able to stay with the Team WRT man, but as the race progressed Van der Linde edged further away to win by 4.3 seconds. This result gives BMW a record-extending 13th overall triumph in the Endurance Cup and its third at Circuit Paul Ricard, while also ensuring a winning maiden series outing for its new M4 GT3 EVO.

Though it missed out on the ultimate prize, Porsche could nevertheless celebrate a double podium finish as the #96 Rutronik machine was followed home by the #22 Schumacher CLRT entry. Four more brands filled the next four positions with the #48 Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter followed by #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin, the #98 Rowe Racing BMW, and the #111 CSA Racing McLaren.

The French squad's McLaren not only secured a strong overall result but also earned Gold Cup victory on home soil thanks to its crew of Simon Gachet, Arthur Rougier and James Kell. Verstappen.com Racing bagged a podium on its series debut by finishing a fine second with its Aston Martin after Harry King completed a late pass on the #777 AlManar Racing by WRT BMW.

The Silver Cup result changed with a little over an hour remaining when the #992 Paradine Competition BMW overcame the #60 VSR Lamborghini. Charles Clark made the winning move before handing over to James Kellett to finish, while Pedro Ebrahim was at the wheel during the early stages. With the #60 falling away the #24 Steller Motorsport Corvette was able to secure a superb runner-up finish on its series debut, with the #26 Saintéloc Racing Audi claiming third.

Kessel Racing won the season-opening Bronze Cup contest for the second year in succession. On this occasion it was the #74 Ferrari that triumphed thanks to Dustin Blattner, Conrad Laursen and Dennis Marschall, who overcame a series of challenges to claim the win. They edged the #991 Paradine Competition BMW by just 2.7 seconds, while the sister #8 Kessel Racing Ferrari was third.

The season-opening race was remarkably clean, with the new Maserati GT2 Stradale Safety Car not called into action once and just a handful of brief full-course yellow periods. Attrition was also notably low, with 55 classified finishers and only four official retirements. The competitive diversity of the series was on full display, with seven different brands securing a podium at the conclusion of the race.

Results are HERE