Shahin joins Rossi in blockbuster BMW WEC line-up

Shahin will join GT racing stalwart Augusto Farfus and Timur Boguslavskiy in the #31 BMW M4 GT3, flanked by The Bend.

The sister car, fittingly #46, will be led by Kelvin van der Linde, MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi, and Ahmad Al Harthy.

Van der Linde replaces Maxime Martin in the #31, who will drive for Mercedes-AMG. Shahin and Boguslavskiy replace Darren Leung and Sean Gelael in the #46 line-up.

“I’m delighted to have the opportunity to compete in the WEC with WRT and BMW,” said Shahin.

“For years now, GT3 racing has been on the rise taking its ultimate form in the WEC and I am thrilled to be a part of it.

“In 2024, I watched with admiration how Team WRT operate and it was a natural choice to seek to partner with a team that has a shared commitment to performance and excellence.

“It is an incredibly competitive series but one where patience and strategy trumps outright performance at times and I’m looking forward to performing in the endurance format.

“This will be the second WEC season I participate in after the unexpected success of the first season.

“Representing The Bend on the global stage is such a privilege and a role I enjoy performing.

“With an excellent driver line-up and Team WRT, I feel like we have very good prospects for 2025.”

It’s a case of switching sides in 2025 for Shahin after winning last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans with Porsche.

A year-on-year shake-up in the Hypercar ranks has had a knock-on effect to the LMGT3 class, and ultimately left Shahin out of the game of musical chairs in the Porsche ranks.

Last year, Manthey Racing ran two Porsche 911 GT3 R cars under the Manthey EMA and Manthey PureRxcing banner.

For 2025, Porsche will be represented by Manthey 1st Phorm and Iron Dames, the latter making a move away from Lamborghini after the brand quit the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Shahin raced for Manthey EMA last year alongside Dutch driver Morris Schuring and Richard Lietz of Austria.

At the end of the 2024 season, Shahin said he would like to return with the brand. However, That wasn’t possible this year with the 1st Phorm and Iron Dames cars accounted for.

Iron Dames will field an all-female drive line-up with Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting, and Celia Martin. The 1st Phorm car will be driven by Ryan Hardwick, Richard Lietz, and Riccardo Pera.

Shahin will have his first drive with Team WRT in the Abu Dhabi 6 Hour at the Yas Marina Circuit on January 18-19.

“As with our Hypercar works programmes, we can look forward to great BMW M Motorsport driver line-ups in the GT3 customer racing programmes of the FIA WEC and IMSA series in 2025,” said BMW M Motorsport head Adreas Roos.

“I congratulate Team WRT on once again securing some of the best Silver and Bronze drivers for the cockpits of our two new BMW M4 GT3 EVOs.

“They will hopefully create many great moments alongside our three works drivers.”

This year will mark Rossi’s second in the FIA World Endurance Championship and BMW.

“Very happy to continue my experience in the FIA WEC, as last year was a strong debut season,” said the Italian, who will race in the Bathurst 12 Hour.

“We had some good races including two podiums and we want to try to be stronger and faster. We will work hard together with BMW M Motorsport to improve our performance and be more competitive in every race.

“It’s great to once again race at some fantastic tracks, that I know well from racing motorcycles, and this makes me enjoy racing in the FIA WEC. Le Mans is of course the most important one, we were unlucky last year, but we will fight for the podium in 2025.”

BMW M Motorsport FIA WEC drivers

#31 The Bend Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO:

Augusto Farfus (Pro)

Timur Boguslavskiy (Silver)

Yasser Shahin (Bronze)

#46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Team WRT:

Kelvin van der Linde (Pro)

Valentino Rossi (Silver)

Ahmad Al Harthy (Bronze)

BMW M Motorsport IMSA drivers

#1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Paul Miller Racing, GTD PRO:

Madison Snow

Neil Verhagen

Connor De Phillippi (Endurance)

Kelvin van der Linde (Endurance)

#48 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Paul Miller Racing, GTD PRO:

Dan Harper

Max Hesse

Jesse Krohn (Endurance)

Augusto Farfus (Endurance)

#96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, Turner Motorsport, GTD:

Robby Foley

Patrick Gallagher

Jake Walker (Endurance)

Jens Klingmann (24h Daytona)