Raffaele Marciello is a busy man again, combining the BMW Hypercar programme with an extensive GT3 calendar. The 31-year-old has collected multiple highlights already, but hungry and driven as he is, he knows: there’s always more to win. In conversation with GT REPORT he looks back at the moment he switched to sports car racing.

The Swiss-born Italian driver started the 2026 season with races on two of the most appreciated tracks for the 24 hours of Daytona and the 12 hours of Bathurst. At Mount Panaroma, he collected P3 with Team WRT teammates Augusto Farfus and Valentino Rossi – marking a great start of their 2026 partnership.

The first two races of the GT World Challenge Europe were challenging for multiple reasons, but Marciello and his teammates showed resilience by making up a lot of ground and collecting top ten results. In between the races, the GT3 ace traveled to Italy to join Jens Klingmann in Italian GT – where the duo clinched the victory. Not long after, he collected his first podium of the WEC year at Spa-Francorchamps, where BMW celebrated an historic one-two finish.

Enough reasons for the BMW Works Driver to speak highly of his programs: “We had good successes with BMW already – last year was a very good year, also with the Intercontinental GT Challenge campaign,” Marciello tells GT REPORT, referring to the multiple podiums and wins, especially the overall victory in the N24 of 2025. He missed out on the podium only once, in Belgium.

Marciello and Kelvin van der Linde fought for the title, which was won by the South African driver by fifteen points. “So, it’s going very well, the GT side especially!” he smiles. “I’m very happy. The car works well, strategy, the team. When you win, you want to win more. I still have to win Daytona and Le Mans, and when you win, you want to win three times.”

‘When the sister car won, I was actually crying’

Over the last decade, the 31-year-old has found his home in GT3 racing. He made the switch from single-seaters to sports cars in 2017, after having competed on a high level in the GP2 Series – now Formula 2 – and a role as test driver at Sauber Formula One Team. “I enjoy it so much. Especially when I joined after Formula racing. GT3 was not as famous then as it is now,” Marciello continues.

“When I joined, everyone thought I was a bit crazy, but I really enjoyed it. One of my first races was in Malaysia. I immediately liked the competition. I enjoy having proper teammates. It’s not like in Formula racing where you fight with your teammates. Here we are a proper team and we try to stay together.”

He points at the double podium of BMW at the WEC 6 Hours of Spa to explain his emotions: “When the sister car won, I was actually crying. The podium was mine also, but we suffered together for two or three years. Even if I didn’t win, it felt like a victory. That’s very nice. It’s something you don’t find in single-seater racing.”

GT championships receive their deserved praise and popularity

You win together and you lose together, Marciello emphasizes. Especially 24-hour races emphasize that feeling and those emotions. Unfortunately, the N24 win was not possible this year, as the #1 ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 Evo suffered an issue with the refuelling system. Nevertheless, the event was special.

Marciello takes pride in conquering the Nordschleife again in a fan-favourite car. “It’s nice to be in one of those cars that are quite iconic, not only at the Nürburgring. I think that I felt a little more pressure when you have to perform – it’s difficult to say,” he continues. “Last year we won the race, so you achieved the dream once. You lose this pressure of ‘you have to do this once in your life’.”

More highlights are coming up, like the 24 hours of Le Mans and the 24 hours of Spa-Francorchamps, where the grids are also stacked with the best line-ups. Marciello praises the growing popularity of the GT3 championships.

“Normally we try to stay in front, so we don’t really see how many cars there are!” he laughs. “GT3 is growing each year. I think it’s a combination of factors. For sure, when Vale [Rossi] came, now Max [Verstappen], and the interest of Kimi [Antonelli], that helps. Even without them it was growing slowly.”

“It’s nice to see so many people and the level is so high. It’s nice to win, but when you win against good drivers, it’s even better.”