Kevin Magnussen forced out of contention in São Paulo

Technical issues forced Danish BMW factory driver Kevin Magnussen out of the fight for a top result in round five of the FIA World Endurance Championship in São Paulo.

Things did not go as hoped for Magnussen and his teammates from BMW M Team WRT, who were forced to return to the pitlane shortly after the start of the weekend’s WEC round. After just a few laps, the Dane reported braking issues, and the valuable minutes spent in the garage cost the team several laps and ultimately left them at the back of the Hypercar field at the finish.

“It was frustrating and a big disappointment for the entire team. We need to go home and analyse what caused the issue so we can avoid this kind of setback in the future,” said Kevin Magnussen.

Magnussen and his teammates, Dries Vanthoor and Raffaele Marciello, had looked set for a promising result in the fifth round of the world championship, which took place at the Interlagos Circuit in São Paulo, Brazil. The trio secured a spot in Hyperpole – the decisive qualifying session for the 10 fastest cars – and while they were forced to retire from the fight, their teammates in the sister car managed to secure fifth place.

“That just shows we could potentially have been in the mix for a top result. But that’s how it goes. We’ve unfortunately had some technical issues in the past couple of races, but we’re hoping to bounce back in the remaining rounds of the season.”

The next challenge for Kevin Magnussen, Dries Vanthoor and Raffaele Marciello will be round six of the FIA World Endurance Championship, which takes place at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on September 7.