WRT Confirms Bathurst Bid; Marciello to Make BMW Debut

BMW M Team WRT will field two cars in next month’s Repco Bathurst 12 Hour, with new signing Raffaele Marciello joining for his first appearance as a BMW factory driver.

Marciello will share the No. 46 BMW M4 GT3 with Valentino Rossi and Maxime Martin for the Intercontinental GT Challenge opener, while the sister No. 32 car is set to be piloted by Charles Weerts, Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor.

As reported by Sportscar365 on Thursday, the Swiss driver was originally set to make his first race start with BMW in the Hankook 24H Dubai, until WRT pulled its entry in the wake of the event’s postponement.

Marciello has yet to win the Australian enduro, coming closest in 2018 when he finished second overall behind WRT, which won the race with an Audi R8 LMS GT3 piloted by Vanthoor, Robin Frijns and Stuart Leonard.

He also took third place on several occasions, most recently last year.

“Bathurst is a very special place for me – the perfect first race with BMW M Motorsport,” Marciello said.

“I love the circuit and have come very close to winning on a few occasions. Unfortunately, it has never quite worked out so far.

“However, I believe I have a good chance to change all that this year with BMW M Team WRT.

“WRT is one of the best teams in the world, and my teammates Maxime and Valentino are extremely quick. Sharing the car with Vale is very special for me. I watched him in MotoGP when I was a kid.”

WRT finished fourth and sixth at Bathurst last year, marking the only time across the entire IGTC campaign that BMW did not secure a podium finish with at least one of its cars.

“The Bathurst 12 Hour is a spectacular event to start the year with, and we are delighted to field another strong line-up in Australia in 2024,” said Andreas Roos, Head of BMW M Motorsport.

“Together with BMW M Team WRT, we enjoyed many fantastic successes in our first season. Unfortunately, we were denied a Bathurst podium. We obviously want to make amends for that this time.

“With our driver line-up, I believe we are in an excellent position to enjoy a strong race. I am particularly looking forward to seeing Raffaele Marciello in a BMW M4 GT3 for the first time.”