Samwise Sportscar & Endurance Newsletter
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
BMW Closes Within Five Points of Toyota in WEC Hypercar Title Fight
BMW M Motorsport director Andreas Roos said the manufacturer aims to “stay in the fight” for the FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar titles after winning two of the season’s first four races. The Team WRT-run BMW M Hybrid V8s have closed to within five points of Toyota in the manufacturers’ standings, banking 127 points at the halfway mark compared with 87 across all of 2025. Rene Rast and Robin Frijns sit tied for the drivers’ lead with Toyota’s Le Mans-winning trio of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries, while Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello and Kevin Magnussen took their first Hypercar wins in Brazil.
Sources: Sportscar365 Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Alex Quinn in Contention for 2027 Peugeot Hypercar Race Seat
Peugeot test and reserve driver Alex Quinn said he hopes to take the “next step” into a race seat with the French manufacturer’s FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar program. Sportscar365 reports the 25-year-old Englishman, who won this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 Pro-Am class, is in the mix for a drive next year amid an expected lineup shuffle. Quinn has been tipped to replace Malthe Jakobsen, long linked to McLaren, with Jean-Eric Vergne set to rejoin the team in place of Stoffel Vandoorne. Quinn first drove the 9X8 in last year’s Bahrain rookie test and joined Peugeot’s Portimao endurance test in the spring.
Sources: Sportscar365 Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Silverstone Targets Six-Figure Crowds for Revived WEC Round
Silverstone CEO Stuart Pringle outlined an ambition for the British circuit to become the “next biggest” race on the FIA World Endurance Championship calendar behind the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The track returns to the schedule with an April 2027 date on a four-year deal with promoter Le Mans Endurance Management that runs through 2030. Pringle said a six-figure weekend attendance is “absolutely achievable,” a mark that would require surpassing the 101,606 fans at this year’s 6 Hours of Spa. He cited Aston Martin’s presence, McLaren’s looming Hypercar arrival and a claimed 110,000-strong crowd at the 2025 Silverstone ELMS round as grounds for confidence.
Sources: Sportscar365 Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Corvette Z06 GT3.R Evo Set for Nurburgring 24 Eligibility in 2027
General Motors is developing a kit to make the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Evo eligible for the Nurburgring 24 and NLS competition next year, Corvette Racing program manager Andrea Hidalgo told Sportscar365. The package, built on top of the Evo updates debuting at January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, addresses ADAC requirements including a sound limit, mandatory anti-lift traction control and a fuel-fill system compatible with the circuit’s regular gas pumps. Hidalgo hopes everything is in place for the start of the 2027 NLS season ahead of the N24 on May 27-30. Customer team JMR Johor Racing had to skip this year’s race under the current restrictions.
Sources: Sportscar365 Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Haupt Racing Team Eyes ACO Series Expansion With Ford Mustang Program
Haupt Racing Team CEO Ulrich Fritz said he wants to expand the German squad’s relationship with Ford Racing, identifying the ACO ecosystem as an “interesting” future direction that could bring an entry in the European or Asian Le Mans Series. HRT currently fields Mustangs in GT World Challenge Europe, DTM and ADAC GT Masters alongside selected Intercontinental GT Challenge rounds, and this year has taken a GTWC Europe Endurance Cup pole at Monza plus the Mustang’s first DTM podiums. Fritz cautioned that growth is limited, saying the team evaluates each year what is best for the team, the brand and its relationship with Ford.
Sources: Sportscar365 Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
13-Car Field Set for GT World Challenge Australia’s Hidden Valley Round
This weekend’s fourth round of GT World Challenge Australia at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin has drawn a 13-car entry, the smallest field of the season, comprising 11 Pro-Am contenders and two Trophy class cars. Volante Rosso Motorsport and Wall Racing are skipping the trip north, leaving Audi, Mercedes-AMG, Ferrari and Porsche as the four represented marques. The No. 666 Team BRM Audi of JP Drake and Garnet Patterson returns after missing Queensland Raceway, while Tigani Motorsport’s No. 71 Porsche is now in 991.2 specification. Tigani duo Brendon Leitch and Sergio Pires lead the standings by nine points from stablemates Jayden Ojeda and Paul Lucchitti.
Sources: Sportscar365 Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
WEC Hypercar — Drivers
1=. René Rast / Robin Frijns — 75 pts
1=. Mike Conway / Kamui Kobayashi / Nyck de Vries — 75 pts
3. Kelvin van der Linde / Dries Vanthoor — 65 pts
4. Antonio Fuoco / Miguel Molina / Nicklas Nielsen — 57 pts
WEC Hypercar — Teams
1. Toyota Gazoo Racing — 132 pts
2. BMW M Team WRT — 127 pts
3. Ferrari AF Corse — 88 pts
IMSA GTP — Drivers
1. Jack Aitken — ~1,760 pts
2. Laurin Heinrich — ~1,616 pts
3. Felipe Nasr / Mathieu Andlauer — ~1,606 pts
IMSA GTP — Teams
1. #31 Cadillac Whelen (AXR) — leads
2. #93 MSR Acura — −245
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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