Weerts, Van der Linde to Test BMW Hypercar in Bahrain

Charles Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde will drive the BMW M Hybrid V8 at next week’s FIA World Endurance Championship rookie test in Bahrain.

The pairing, which enjoyed a successful season with BMW and Team WRT in GT racing, will sample the Dallara-chassised LMDh car as part of the end-of-season test that takes part the day after the season-ending 8 Hours of Bahrain.

The two drivers both have relatively little experience of high-downforce prototypes, although they both have driven LMP2 machinery previously.

Weerts drove one of WRT’s Oreca 07 Gibsons at the Bahrain test in 2024, while van der Linde took part in a partial Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 season with Phoenix Racing in 2021.

Together, they captured the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS overall and Sprint Cup titles driving for WRT, while they also won the Suzuka 1000km and Indianapolis 8 Hour alongside Raffaele Marciello and Valentino Rossi, respectively.

That formed part of van der Linde’s dominant run to the Intercontinental GT Challenge drivers’ crown, which also included wins at the Megiuar’s Bathurst 12 Hour and Nürburgring 24.

“[I’m] really looking forward to get behind the wheel of the BMW M Hybrid V8 in Bahrain next week,” van der Linde wrote on Instagram. “Thank you BMW M Motorsport, it’s a nice reward after a successful year together.”