Kevin Magnussen claims third FIA WEC podium in Japan

The Danish BMW factory driver claimed his third FIA WEC podium of the season following a thrilling finish to the six-hour race at Fuji Speedway.

Kevin Magnussen achieved his goal of making a significant move up the World Championship standings as he and teammates Dries Vanthoor and Raffaele Marciello secured a strong third-place finish in the six-hour race at Fuji Speedway. The result came after an otherwise difficult weekend for the BMW trio, who had struggled for pace at the Japanese circuit.

The team was already on the back foot before the start after Saturday’s qualifying session was cancelled due to poor weather conditions. The starting grid was instead determined by each car’s individual fastest lap times from the practice sessions, where the BMW team had primarily focused on finding the optimal race setup rather than chasing qualifying times. As a result, Magnussen, Vanthoor and Marciello had to start the six-hour race from 14th place in the Hypercar field.

Nevertheless, BMW M Team WRT managed to work its way through the field during an eventful race featuring several interruptions and Safety Car periods. Magnussen made a solid start and had brought the car well into the top 10 when he handed over to Raffaele Marciello.

The biggest leap came towards the end of the race, when strong strategic work and excellent execution in the pit lane suddenly propelled the BMW trio into podium contention. Dries Vanthoor came in for the decisive pit stop from eighth place and returned to the race in third. The Belgian even moved up to second before being passed in the closing minutes by one of the factory Alpine cars, which, like the race-winning Toyota, had more pace throughout the weekend. Nevertheless, the BMW team was more than satisfied with third place.

“It was a really strong result for us and a finish we couldn’t have hoped for. We realised early on that we didn’t have the pace to fight our way into the podium positions, but thanks to a good strategy and, not least, some fantastic work during our pit stops, we managed to get there anyway. An incredible performance by the entire team and a result everyone should be proud of,” says Kevin Magnussen.

The third-place finish at Fuji Speedway marks Magnussen’s third FIA World Endurance Championship podium of the season. The Dane also secured second place at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and victory at Interlagos in Brazil earlier this year. The result also moves Magnussen up to fourth place in the provisional Drivers’ World Championship standings, with the 2026 title still in play.

The next round of the FIA World Endurance Championship takes place at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain on 18 October, before the season finale at Monza in Italy on 8 November. However, Magnussen will already be back in action next weekend, when he lines up for BMW M Team WRT in the finale of the American IMSA championship, the 10-hour Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.