Team WRT heads back to Mount Panorama this weekend with new business on the agenda: defend the spectacular 1–2 finish it scored at the 2025 Bathurst 12 Hour. For the 2026 running of the race, BMW M Motorsport is pairing that on-track ambition with one of its most recognizable cultural calling cards—the BMW Art Car legacy.
After confirming Team WRT’s driver line-up for the 2026 event, BMW M Motorsport revealed an artistic tribute that ties GT racing to five decades of BMW Art Car history. One of the two BMW M4 GT3 EVOs entered by Team WRT will run a special livery inspired by BMW Art Car #8, created by renowned Australian artist Ken Done.
The Ken Done Art Car design replica will be applied to the #32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, to be driven by Jordan Pepper (RSA), Kelvin van der Linde (RSA), and Charles Weerts (BEL). The tribute forms part of the global 50-year anniversary celebrations of the BMW Art Car Collection, a long-running collaboration that has linked art and motorsport since 1975. Over that period, BMW Art Cars have been created by some of the world’s most renowned artists, with many turning race cars into moving works of art.
Ken Done welcomed the return of his Art Car theme to the circuit ahead of the weekend’s race. “I’m really looking forward to the weekend race to see the artwork for the BMW Art Car I painted brought to the racetrack,” he said. Done explained that he drew inspiration from the brilliance and motion of parrots and parrot fish, aiming to capture an impression of speed—something he believes suits Mount Panorama perfectly. He added that it’s “wonderful to see color, energy and performance coming together again through BMW M Motorsport.”
Done’s original BMW Art Car dates back to 1989, painted on a championship-winning Group A BMW E30 M3. That car was the same BMW M3 Group A racer driven by Australian motorsport icon Jim Richards to the 1987 Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) title, making the modern tribute a fitting nod as BMW returns to Mount Panorama with a current GT3-spec contender.
The timing also aligns with another landmark for the badge: 2026 marks the 40th anniversary of the BMW M3, first launched in 1986. Now spanning six generations, the M3 has become one of the most recognizable high-performance nameplates in automotive history, with a record that stretches across both road and racetrack.
The Art Car-inspired BMW M4 GT3 EVO livery will make its competitive debut at the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour, the international 12-hour endurance race held at Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, on 13–15 February 2026. [Photos: BMW Australia]
