BMW M Motorsport director Andreas Roos said it’s their aim to “stay in the fight” for the FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar titles, after taking wins in two of the first four races.
The German brand, which picked up its third consecutive podium finish with its Team WRT-entered BMW M Hybrid V8s, has closed to within five points of Toyota for the lead of the manufacturers’ world championship despite the Japanese manufacturer’s double-points victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
This was aided by a zero-point score by the pair of Toyota TR010 Hybrids in Brazil, and building consistency from the two BMWs, which have combined to claim four podium finishes so far this season.
It has resulted in a remarkable turnaround by BMW, which scored a total of 87 manufacturer points for the entire 2025 season, compared to already having 127 points on the board at the season’s halfway mark.
“We’re super happy with how things are going at the moment,” Roos told Sportscar365. “I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved this season so far.
“Out of four races, we won two and we’ve been on the podium three times and even one win was a 1-2 double podium.”
“Clearly there’s a lot of momentum. It’s really nice to see how things are coming together at the moment. We had our Evo update for our car at the beginning of the season.
“It was clearly our goal to get the car into a better window, especially about drivability, consistency, predictability, to give the drivers a car which they can race, in endurance racing, over whole distance, on a very high level.
“This is something we’ve managed.”
While Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello and Kevin Magnussen claimed their first Hypercar wins in Brazil, teammates Rene Rast and Robin Frijns, who won with Sheldon van der Linde in Spa and finished runner-up at Le Mans, sit tied for the lead of the drivers’ world championship with Toyota’s Le Mans-winning trio of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries.
“For sure the double victory in Spa was a super success, and then coming to Le Mans and fighting until the last minute of the race for the victory and ending up P2, just 11 seconds behind the winner, was a very nice reward,” said Roos.
“It’s not like we lost a victory in Le Mans. For us, we clearly gained a P2 [finish].
“Then going to Sao Paulo and again being on the top step and winning and being in the fight for the manufacturers’ championship…
“Our goal is to stay in the fight for the championship, but we also see how close and tight the whole competition is.”
Toyota and BMW have jumped out into a two-way battle for the manufacturers’ world championship, with defending champions Ferrari more than 40 points adrift in third.
Despite this, Roos said there’s no room for error given the high level of competition the series has produced this year.
“The World Endurance Championship, with all the manufacturers involved, the competition is super high and you could also see it already again in Sao Paulo,” he said.
“The track is the shortest track we have on the calendar but having all 17 cars within seven-tenths in qualifying and in Hyperpole, having the first four cars within one-tenth is at the end amazing for everybody competing, and also for the fans.
“I think we really achieved it at the moment, to be so close.
“But this also means you have to get everything together. There’s attention to detail. Everything has to be spot on and perfect, from car preparation to pit stop strategy, drivers… everything.
“It looks like we’re not doing too bad of a job at the moment.”
With the final two rounds of the season poised to be staged in Europe, and as six-hour races, due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, it would result in a reduced points haul, as both the Qatar 1812km and 8 Hours of Bahrain were due to award 1.5x points.
This potential change, however, has not fazed BMW according to Roos, who said everyone would be in the same scenario.
“Half of the season is now over in terms of races but already more than half the season in terms of points,” he said.
“In the end, it’s the same for everybody. As the championship at the moment is so tight, especially and Toyota and BMW are so equal on points, there is the same amount to gain and the same amount to lose.
“Our clear goal is to win every race where we are competing. That’s why, in the end, why you come to the race track and why you want to compete. This is why we will not change.
“We’re humble enough and know well enough, in such a tight and competitive championship, that you can’t expect to win every race.
“But our goal is, in the end, to do as best as we can, with the clear goal to be on the podium or to win the race.”
“This is how we’re approaching the upcoming races and hopefully manage to get some further good results, to score good points and to stay in the championship fight.”
