Kevin Magnussen has now felt the harsh reality of racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Competing alongside teammates Dries Vanthoor and Raffaele Marciello for BMW M Team WRT, the Danish driver was in the hunt for a top finish in the Hypercar class until mechanical trouble derailed their race just two hours from the end.
The trio had shown promise early, earning fourth place in Thursday’s final qualifying session, placing Magnussen on the second row for the start. They remained among the front runners for much of the race.
“We believed we had a strong car with real potential,” Magnussen said. “We knew Ferrari and Porsche would be tough rivals, so we focused on staying clean, maintaining pace, and setting ourselves up to fight for top spots near the end.”
That strategy worked well for 22 hours, as the team remained competitive through the night and climbed into the top five. However, on Saturday afternoon, with the finish in sight, a cooling issue in the hybrid system forced the car into the garage. Despite the team’s efforts to resolve the issue and rejoin the race, they dropped to 19th place.
The team’s second car, piloted by Robin Frijns, René Rast, and Sheldon van der Linde, suffered a similar fate, retiring to the garage with an engine problem and finishing 18th.
“This one hurts for everyone involved,” Magnussen admitted. “Le Mans is the centerpiece of our season, and now we’ll have to wait another year. We’ll regroup, review everything, and aim to come back stronger.”
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