The traditional Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) gala was held yesterday evening for the World Endurance Hypercar and GT Champions.

Le Mans Series

FIA WEC

Over the course of BMW M Team WRT's first season in the FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar category, the BMW M Hybrid V8 steadily improved, quickly going from newcomer to serious competition for the podium. This first year laid the foundation for an ambitious future in the top endurance class.

Like all new teams and cars, BMW&#39;s debut in the FIA WEC was peppered with adjustments on the back of a relatively steep learning curve. BMW M Team WRT first sought to make it into the top 10, but after mid-season, its performances were noticeably improved. The&nbsp;BMW M Hybrid V8 became a regular among the frontrunners&nbsp;and a dependable contender for a podium finish.

This consistent progress allowed&nbsp;BMW to finish&nbsp;2024 in fifth place in the FIA Endurance&nbsp;Hypercar Manufacturers Championship, an impressive accomplishment&nbsp;for a team&#39;s rookie year in the FIA WEC. BMW beat out&nbsp;Peugeot, Cadillac and&nbsp;Lamborghini, demonstrating its desire and ability&nbsp;to face off against Hypercar&#39;s elite.

<h2>The 24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans: Full of Hope</h2>

The most highly anticipated race of this year, the&nbsp;92nd&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans, was no walk in the park for BMW M Team WRT&#39;s two cars. The&nbsp;#15 BMW M Hybrid V8 was forced to retire after going off-track, a significant blow for an outfit that held big&nbsp;ambitions for its first&nbsp;participation. The #20 finished the race without making it into the classification, further adding to what was described by&nbsp;BMW as a real whirlwind of emotions.

<h2>A Solid Foundation for the Future</h2>

Despite the setbacks, BMW M Team WRT can be proud of its&nbsp;2024 season. In addition to a noteworthy performance at the&nbsp;6 Hours of&nbsp;Fuji where the BMW M Hybrid V8 clinched second place, the outfit racked up four top 10 finishes and took part in seven&nbsp;Hyperpoles, clear proof of its increasing competitiveness.

Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport):&nbsp;A long season in the FIA WEC came to an end here in Bahrain [&hellip;] but overall, we can look back positively on the season, considering where we started in our first FIA WEC appearance in Qatar and where we are now in this fiercely contested world championship. A big thank you to everyone at BMW M Motorsport, BMW M Team WRT, all our drivers&nbsp;and everyone involved in development. We&rsquo;ll take this into the winter break and work hard to come back stronger next year.&nbsp;

Expectations are high for the&nbsp;2025 season. Ren&eacute; Rast,&nbsp;one of BMW M Team WRT&rsquo;s star drivers, is&nbsp;optimistic: So, we can look positively at our performance. We can fight for the top spots on our own strength. That is a great motivation for the 2025 season!&nbsp;

BMW M Team WRT and&nbsp;the BMW M Hybrid V8 have&nbsp;proven they&#39;re ready to fight on&nbsp;the front lines of a highly competitive Hypercar field, taking on&nbsp;next season with confidence and aiming for the&nbsp;podium to write a new chapter in&nbsp;BMW&#39;s history in endurance racing.

BMW M Team WRT rises from Hypercar rookie to podium contender

Toyota Gazoo Racing is standing by its 2024 line-ups for the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season, including the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans (11-15 June).

Toyota made history once again this year with a sixth World Endurance Manufacturers&rsquo; Championship title on the bounce. To build on this success in 2025, the Japanese carmaker had decided that continuity is the best policy by sticking with the same driver trios.

Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries will therefore share the wheel of the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid for the second consecutive season. The trio won the 6 Hours of Imola. Kobayashi and de Vries finished third in the Hypercar World Endurance Drivers&rsquo; Championship. 
Meanwhile, S&eacute;bastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa will pursue their collaboration in the #8 sister car Over the last three seasons, this partnership has produced two world titles and a 24 Hours of Le Mans victory.

Kamui Kobayashi, Team Principal and Driver of car #7, explains:&nbsp;&ldquo;We have a top driver line-up in both cars, and I am happy to be part of it again in 2025. The team spirit and cooperation among all the drivers, and the team in general, grows with every race and every season. Thanks to the great support of everyone at Toyota, as well as our partners, we have enjoyed some good results this year, but we are determined to achieve more. Competing in the Hypercar category in WEC is a big challenge and we are fighting against very strong competition, but as a team we continuously push ourselves to perform even better at every event. I expect this to continue next season, with a consistent line-up of drivers who understand how to work together &ndash; as a driver crew, as team members and as part of the Toyota family &ndash; to succeed in endurance racing. I know the whole team is excited by the challenge in 2025.&rdquo;

S&eacute;bastien Buemi, Driver of car #8 and stalwart of the Toyota Gazoo Racing endurance team, adds:&nbsp;&ldquo;This team is a big part of my family. I grew up around Toyota because my family has had a Toyota dealership for over 50 years, and I remember having my photo taken next to the GT-One at the Geneva Motor Show when I was a child. It is amazing to be part of the team since the first season in 2012, having achieved a lot of good results in that time. Thank you to everyone at TOYOTA GAZOO Racing for giving me the opportunity to go for another win at Le Mans and the World Championship.&rdquo;

Toyota Gazoo Racing sticks to same line-ups for 2025 campaign

The Alpine A424 wrapped up its first year in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) with a series of very promising showings. 2024 served as a learning curve for Alpine Endurance Team, but the team finished a commendable fourth in the Hypercar manufacturers’ world championship, behind Toyota, Porsche and Ferrari. The French brand has thus emerged as the best of the newcomers in this ultra-competitive racing class.

<h2>An encouraging start despite the challenges</h2>

The Alpine&nbsp;A424 suffered its fair share of mechanical setbacks, including at the 24 Hours of Le Mans where neither car finished the race. However, the team bounced back to secure a series of noteworthy results later in the season, including fifth place at Lone Star Le Mans, third at the 6 Hours of Fuji, and a strong fourth place at the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain. The Alpine&nbsp;A424 thus achieved one podium finish, three top-five finishes, nine top-ten finishes, one fastest race lap and four Hyperpole appearances during its maiden campaign in 2024. A performance that testifies to the car&rsquo;s potential and the team&rsquo;s commitment.

<h2>Constant progress</h2>

Bruno Famin, VP Alpine Motorsports, is optimistic about what lies ahead. For him one of the highlights of the 2024 season was the team work demonstrated by the drivers and the rest of the crew: &ldquo;The individualities have all contributed to the project and have always worked towards the same goal: to help the team improve and develop the potential of the A424, all with a strong team spirit. The season was free of serious incidents, which is invaluable during a learning year. As the season went on, depending on the circumstances, we also saw them distinguish themselves on track when necessary. We saw that again today, and we can be proud of the work done by our seven drivers and the whole team.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;

<h2>Looking ahead to 2025</h2>

Charles Milesi, one of the drivers who contributed to the #36 Alpine&nbsp;A424&rsquo;s achievements, hailed the progress made over the year: &ldquo;Overall, it was a positive season.&nbsp;We made a lot of progress throughout the year. We know, however, that we still have a lot of work to do to achieve our future goals, and we will focus on our next tests to get closer to the front in 2025.&rdquo;

A studious winter lies ahead for the team headed by Philippe Sinault, as they aim to move up the pecking order to affirm their status as one of the leading Hypercar manufacturers and secure a podium finish in 2025.

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Alpine Endurance Team firmly focused on 2025

As 40 skippers cast off for the start of the 10th Vendée Globe round-the-world, non-stop, single-handed yacht race today (Sunday 10 November 2024), we ask the question: could a driver race solo in the 24 Hours of Le Mans?

It might seem crazy today, but it did almost happen at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in bygone times. The race&rsquo;s history books recount&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/24-hours-stories-louis-rosier-23-out-of-24-hours-at-the-wheel-55804" target="_blank">the tale of Louis Rosier</a>. In 1950, in the Frenchman&rsquo;s third appearance in the race, he accomplished the heroic and unlikely feat of winning the race almost single-handed, having spent more than 23 hours at the wheel. Rosier allowed his son, Jean-Louis, the pleasure of completing a few laps before hopping back into the driver&rsquo;s seat to set what is still a record in terms of endurance. This achievement is worthy of the solo sailors who are setting out to brave the oceans without assistance and will remain forever etched in the annals of the French endurance classic.

<h2>Driving times, an element of race strategy</h2>

Today, such a performance would be simply impossible. The 24 Hours of Le Mans regulations stipulate that all teams must rotate three drivers through the car during the race. The rules are devised to ensure that teams&rsquo; safety and performance are not compromised during such an intense, demanding race. The time spent at the wheel is also restricted to four hours in any six-hour period, and all drivers must have a mandatory break between each stint.

Moreover, in the LMP2 and LMGT3 classes, Bronze and Silver drivers must spend at least six hours in total at the wheel during the race. The team faces a penalty and potential disqualification should a driver fail to complete the minimum driving time. Similarly, the sanction may result in disqualification should a driver exceed the maximum driving time.

These rules are strictly monitored by the Stewards to prevent overtiredness and safeguard the competitors. Unlike the Vend&eacute;e Globe skippers, the drivers in the 24 Hours of Le Mans must therefore share the burden and each one plays a decisive role in the quest for victory.

Rosier&rsquo;s achievement remains a unique feat in the history of motor racing and bears witness to an era where limits were tested differently to today. In 2024, the essence of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is teamwork, coordination and collective strategy, whereas the Vend&eacute;e Globe skippers can only call on their inner strength and motivation when the going gets tough.

Can a driver race “single-handed” at the 24 Hours of Le Mans?

The event hosted by British TV presenter Nicki Shields and French Formula 1 commentator Julien Febreau also served as Jean Todt's last appearance as FIA President.

Eight hundred guests celebrated the exceptional performances given in 2021, including rising stars and newcomer talents, and the trophies for this year's World Endurance Hypercar and GT Champions were distributed.

The Hypercar driver champions, namely Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López, were given their awards by FIA Vice President Mohammed Ben Sulayem. TOYOTA GAZOO Racing received the the Hypercar team champion trophy from Automobile Club de l'Ouest President Pierre Fillon. 

In GT, the AF Corse Ferrari team's Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado won the driver champion trophy.

Check out photos from the FIA gala below:

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Season 10 of the FIA WEC will kick off on 12-13 March with the official Prologue at the Sebring circuit in the U.S. The first race of the year, the 1000 Miles of Sebring, is set for the same venue on 18 March. Go to the official <a href="https://www.fiawec.com/en/">FIA WEC website</a> for the full calendar.

24H LE MANS

2021 World Endurance Champions celebrated at annual FIA gala

Related News

BMW M Team WRT rises from Hypercar rookie to podium contender

Toyota Gazoo Racing sticks to same line-ups for 2025 campaign

Alpine Endurance Team firmly focused on 2025

Can a driver race “single-handed” at the 24 Hours of Le Mans?

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