South African brothers Sheldon and Kelvin van der Linde win Australian Bathurst 12 Hour

South African brothers Sheldon and Kelvin van der Linde lead an impressive 1-2 victory for Team WRT at the Bathurst 12 Hour race in Australia over the weekend.

Paired with Augusto Farfus, the brothers claimed victory in their #32 BMW M4 GT3 ahead of team-mates Valentino Rossi (ITA), Raffaele Marciello (SUI), and Charles Weerts (BEL) in the #46 car.

Team WRT said it managed to pull off a perfect race strategy. Throughout the race, the two BMW M4 GT3s consistently gained an advantage in fuel consumption, which ultimately decided victory or defeat. While most competitors had to pit for refuelling just before the end, both M4s were able to continue without stopping.

The BMW duo finished ahead of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Jules Gounon, Luca Stolz and Kenny Habul and the Arise Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Chaz Mostert, Will Brown and Daniel Serra.

Though car #46 temporarily fell back to eighth place due to a drive-through penalty, its drivers fought their back onto the podium. Marciello secured second place with a spectacular overtaking manoeuvre against Gounon in the Mercedes.

For the Van der Linde brothers, it was their first joint victory in a BMW M Motorsport car, and for Rossi, it was his first podium at the Bathurst 12 Hour.

“Congratulations to Team WRT on the long-awaited Bathurst victory! It was our third attempt with the BMW M4 GT3, and after coming close last year, we finally made it! I am very happy for the Van der Linde brothers that they can celebrate a victory in their first race sharing a car for BMW M Motorsport," said Andreas Roos, Head of BMW M Motorsport.

"Valentino Rossi, Raffaele Marciello, and Charles Weerts also did a great job in the sister car. It's a pity that a penalty cost them a chance of victory. Team WRT remains undefeated this year after victories at the 24h Dubai and the 6h Abu Dhabi. Hopefully, this is a good omen for the rest of the season!"

Sheldon van der Linde said this was easily the best strategy decision he's ever seen before.

"We did not have the outright fastest car today, but still we did it! Both my teammates didn’t make any mistakes. Sharing this win with my brother for the first time since 2018, is very special of course. I’m really impressed how quickly he is up there with his pace in just his second race with BMW M Motorsport,” van der Linde said.

Brother Kelvin said the race brought a crazy amount of emotions for him.

"First race back with Team WRT, first race back with my brother, first race with Augusto, second race for BMW M Motorsport. This is all very special. I don’t have to explain, what this win means for my brother and myself. I’m sure, Mom and Dad are proud at home. It’s also amazing for me to share this victory with Augusto, whom I looked up to when I was a kid. He was one of my heroes. Looking at the race, the final stint was very tough, as I had to hit fuel numbers and had Chaz Mostert behind me catching up. But in the end, it worked out perfectly,” he said.

Rossi said his team's podium was a fantastic way to start the season, despite the aforementioned setback.

"We were able to fight with our sister car until I made a mistake unfortunately and we had to serve a drive-through penalty. I thought at that point, that the fight for the podium was over. But we managed to come back with great pace. Raffaele’s pass against Jules Gounon was a lot of fun to watch. I am very happy with the result,” Rossie concluded.