W Racing Team, better know as WRT, has ended its 13-year long running partnership with Audi, signing instead with arch-rivals BMW for the Munich manufacturer’s planned 2024 World Endurance Championship Hypercar programme.
WRT has been working with Audi since the team’s inception in 2009, winning almost every major endurance race together and multiple titles. The two had agreed to partner together on Audi’s LMDh programme in the WEC, but Audi put the project on “indefinite pause” some months ago.
With Audi’s sportscar programme reportedly ending when the current R8 LMS EVO II gets to its end of life, WRT has elected to jump ship to BMW.
BMW will debut their new LMDh car, the BMW M Hybrid V8, next year in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, with a two-car factory effort run by Team RLL. WRT will then run its own BMW M Hybrid B8 factory effort in the WEC with BMW the following year.
WRT started racing in WEC’s LMP2 category last year, to prepare itself for the planned hypercar programme, originally with Audi. The team won the 24 Hours of Le Mans on its debut, and expanded to a two-car effort this year.
Andreas Roos, head of BMW M Motorsport, said: “The successes and extensive experience make Team WRT the ideal partner for our return to Le Mans. From the word go, discussions with Vincent Vosse and his partners were very positive.
“It was immediately clear that we share a passion for the WEC project and the BMW M Hybrid V8, and it did not take long to come to an agreement on collaboration. There will now be a period of intensive preparations next year, before the first competitive appearances in 2024. We have not yet considered any potential appearances for Team WRT in GT racing.
“Over the coming months, we will make a decision about our race programme for the BMW M4 GT3 in the 2023 season in close collaboration with all our BMW M Motorsport teams.”
Vincent Voose, WRT team principal, said: Vincent Vosse said: “All of us at Team WRT are extremely happy with the start of this new partnership with BMW M Motorsport and feel honoured to be associated with a brand that has such an awesome pedigree in motor racing.
“Entering the LMDh arena with a strong partner such as BMW M Motorsport was the logical next step and we are not only thrilled about the challenge ahead but also thankful for BMW M Motorsport’s trust in us.”
