In motor racing – as in any sport – the success of a junior programme is defined by the stars it produces. It is expected that some drivers will not make the cut; the lasting legacy comes from the handful of exceptional talents who go on to achieve great things.
In this regard, BMW pulled off something spectacular in 2020 when the Bavarian manufacturer signed a trio of young drivers to its revived junior team. All three members – Max Hesse, Dan Harper and Neil Verhagen – were carefully selected and identified as future factory drivers. Nevertheless, it was fair to expect that one might fail to make the grade.
Remarkably, all three signed on as factory drivers in 2023 and remain with BMW today. As junior programmes go, this was a spectacular success.
While Verhagen has predominantly been deployed in the U.S., both Harper and Hesse have been regulars in GT World Challenge. This term they are sharing the #46 Team WRT BMW with fellow factory driver Valentino Rossi. Hesse is the busier of the two, competing in the full 10-round championship alongside The Doctor.
"I'm loving it!" Hesse says of his high-profile opportunity. "For me, it was a great step being able to join Vale in the Sprint Cup. In the past I've only been doing Endurance, and I really love this mixture of Sprint and Endurance.
"Vale is just another human being, a really nice guy," he continues. "It just feels like working with another factory driver. The whole group around him is like a family and he's very keen on getting better, making us all grow together."
Given his relative inexperience in GT racing, it might be thought that Rossi looks to Hesse for guidance. But the younger man is quick to point out that he can learn just as much from the MotoGP legend.
"Vale is a nine-time world champion and he now has four or five years of experience in cars," says Hesse. "He's been through a lot of things, and he knows how to manage a race weekend.
“He has a great sense of what the car is doing, of what he is actually feeling beneath him. That's something I really enjoy because I’m similar in that regard. I'm also keen on all the details and being precise with the feedback. Because we're both like this, we're moving in the same direction.
"That's why we've unlocked a decent amount of pace this season. Even on tracks that normally we should not be super fast, we've had the pace. We just need to tidy up some bits.”
This final comment hints at the story of their season: despite showing plenty of speed, the #46 BMW is yet to secure a standout result in 2026. Qualifying pace has been a particularly strong area in Sprint – they have the second-best average in the series – and the car has been competitive in Endurance. Neverthless, a podium still eludes them.
"I would say it's been challenging, but we have had good races," says Hesse. "Monza was a downside for us, with the technical issue at the pit stop. We were in a decent position and while it's not Vale's home race it's still in Italy, and there was a big crowd; it would have been nice to get a result there.
"We also did a great job at Spa, in my opinion. We had a really good race with no big penalties. It was very clean and the pit stops were good. We were lacking the outright pace to fight for a win, but on Monday morning we all woke up happy with our job. P6 was the maximum and to be the best BMW, I think that shows we did everything we could with our package. Hopefully next year it will be the same, just with a little bit more pace, and we can fight at the sharp end."
Following two Sprint Cup events – which included Rossi's maiden series pole at Misano – the #46 crew are back on Endurance Cup duty this weekend (29/30 August). It's a special event, too, with the annual trip to the Nürburgring representing a home race both for Hesse and BMW.
"The Nürburgring is a big word for a German. It’s in the DNA of BMW, and also for me as a German driver. I was living for two years around the Nordschleife, and it's always good to come back. The track is branded in BMW, we have our showroom there, and a lot of people are coming from Munich. It immediately gives you the feeling that it's a very important race.
"It takes a lot to be quick there,” Hesse continues. “We need to really manage a good Sunday, with qualifying and also the race. There's a lot of traffic involved, and the track is very special because you have a lot of slow speed corners but also high speed at the end. To fine tune your car, your setup has to be perfect more or less everywhere. That's a challenge.”
They can take a lot of encouragement from what happened last year. The #32 Team WRT BMW was the fastest car in qualifying, while the #98 ROWE Racing BMW captured the overall win. Clearly, then, there's a shot at a good result this season.
"ROWE did a fantastic job last year. It seems like there was great pace in the car and it was also consistent during the three-hour race, so of course that gives us high hopes. If you are coming to a track where you've not really had success yet, there's always a bit more of a question mark. To tick that box is good. Now we're going to try and do it with Team WRT."
Heese is already a race winner in the GT World Challenge Endurance Cup: he and Harper triumphed for ROWE, alongside Augusto Farfus, at Circuit Paul Ricard in 2024 (above). If he can add a second victory on home soil, it would be further proof that BMW nailed its young driver selection back in 2020.