BMW Secures Historic First Pole Position at Le Mans Ahead of 24-Hour Race
Le Mans (FRA), 11-14 June 2026. 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, FIA WEC, BMW M Team WRT, #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, Hypercar, LMDh, Dries Vanthoor, Kevin Magnussen, Vincent Vosse.
BMW Secures Historic First Pole Position at Le Mans Ahead of 24-Hour Race
BMW M Motorsport secured its first-ever pole position at the 24 Hours of Le Mans after Dries Vanthoor delivered the fastest qualifying performance in Hyperpole for the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8.
Vanthoor initially finished second by just 0.005 seconds but inherited pole position after the quickest lap posted by a Cadillac competitor was later disallowed. The Belgian driver’s final time of 3:22.564 secured a historic milestone for BMW at the world’s most prestigious endurance race.
The result capped a strong qualifying session for BMW M Team WRT, with Robin Frijns placing the No. 20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8 fourth on the Hypercar grid.
BMW also showed competitiveness in the LMGT3 category, where both Team WRT entries advanced to Hyperpole 2. Sean Gelael qualified fifth in the No. 32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, while Parker Thompson secured sixth position in the No. 69 entry.
The pole position marks another achievement for BMW’s Hypercar program, which has steadily improved since joining the FIA World Endurance Championship’s premier category. However, teams remain focused on race pace and reliability as they prepare for the grueling 24-hour contest.
“We’re super happy to be on pole at Le Mans,” Vanthoor said after qualifying. “At the same time, our goal is to win the race, so we need to keep it clean over 24 hours to be right there on Sunday.”
The 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is scheduled to begin on Saturday at 16:00 CEST, with BMW seeking to convert its historic qualifying result into a breakthrough overall victory.
