For BMW M Team RLL, the second IMSA season with the BMW M Hybrid V8 didn’t go according to plan as BMW M USA team was denied the first podium of the year 2024 despite the strong pace of the BMW M Hybrid V8. At Imola, the BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 made enormous improvements compared to the WEC season opener in Qatar and was competitive under all conditions. Let’s review both teams races in both championships so far.

📷 © Luc Warnotte. Left BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 at Sebring for second round IMSA; right both BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 at Lusail for first WEC race.

BMW M Team RLL

Although the two BMW M Hybrid V8 were able to keep up with the speed of their competitors and stay in the leading group of the GTP category the BMW M Team RLL LMDh have missed the hoped-for podium finishes so far.

24 Hours of Daytona

Both car #24 with drivers Philipp Eng, Jesse Krohn, Augusto Farfus, and Dries Vanthoor, as well as the sister car with Connor De Phillippi, Nick Yelloly, Maxime Martin and René Rast held strong speed and stayed in the leading group until late at night. However, both crews then had bad luck with technical difficulties.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona. #24 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 at ROLEX 24 at Daytona.

The #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 stopped on the track due to electronic problems, but could have returned to the race quickly as only the steering wheel needed to be replaced. Unfortunately, there was a mishap with the recovery crew while towing the car back to the pit, which cost additional time, Ultimately, the BMW M Team RLL lost 13 laps due to the unfortunate incident.

Jesse Krohn (#24 BMW M Hybrid V8, 7th place): “I feel for everyone on the team who worked so hard for this event. We definitely deserved a better result. For me personally, it was a fantastic experience. I had an incredible amount of fun in my first race with the new car and learned a lot. I am convinced that we could have achieved a very good result without our problems.”

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona. #25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 at ROLEX 24 at Daytona.

The #25 BMW M Hybrid V8, which had even been in the lead at one point, suffered a leak in the gearbox cooler. Later on, a brake change was necessary on the rear axle, which led to a total of 15 laps behind.

Connor De Phillippi (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8, 8th place): “That was not the race we wanted. Until the race, we had actually had a positive week here in Daytona, but unfortunately, luck was not on our side. You cannot afford technical problems like the ones we had in such a race. We have to learn from that with a view to Sebring.” Source: BMW Group

12 Hours of Sebring

At Sebring, BMW M Team RLL was not able to renew the first podium achieved in 2023 with the second place finish for the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 at the 12 Hours of Sebring 2023. Both BMW M Hybrid V8 showed strong performance, but lacked the necessary racing luck with the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 crossing the finish line in fourth place.

In a balanced race in the top GTP class, Connor De Phillippi, Nick Yelloly, and Maxime Martin in the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 stayed at the front of the pack throughout the race distance. They even led the race at times. However, after the last of numerous yellow phases, they just missed out on a podium finish in the final sprint.

Maxime Martin (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8, 4th place): “We showed good potential, but unfortunately didn't quite make it to the podium. We had a clean race, and it's of course annoying to be the first crew not on the podium. My first Sebring race in the top category was a great experience. It feels good to be able to fight for the overall win in such a race. The track is tough, but I had a lot of fun.”

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring. #24 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 at 12 Hours of Sebring.

Jesse Krohn, Philipp Eng, and Augusto Farfus in the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 were unlucky with a slow puncture and a damaged rear wing. Nevertheless, they scored important points by finishing sixth and even fought their way back from a lap down.

Jesse Krohn (#24 BMW M Hybrid V8, 6th place): “We still don't know what was wrong with our car. It felt strange for all drivers, and we couldn't drive the lap times we needed. I had it first, then the problem also occurred with Philipp and Augusto. We now need to analyse this precisely. Nevertheless, I think we did damage limitation. We got important points. It could have been much worse.” Source: BMW Group

Long Beach.

In the first sprint race of the season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Long Beach, BMW M Team RLL was unable to achieve the hoped-for first podium finish of the year after a strong qualifying.

Nick Yelloly and Connor De Phillippi started the 100-minute race from second position. In the first half of the race, Yelloly held his ground in the leading group and even took the lead. However, a yellow flag just before the planned pit stop for the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8, which brought the field back together, resulted in De Phillippi falling back to fifth position. There, he was repeatedly involved in tight duels, leading to collisions and ultimately a damaged front that had to be changed in the pits. A few laps before the end, the race for car #25 ended after a slip into the tyre barriers. De Phillippi and Yelloly were classified ninth in the GTP class.

Nick Yelloly (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8, 9th place): “The race did not go well. My stint was okay, even though I was unlucky once when lapping and lost a place because of it, but the yellow flag just before our pit stop put us on the back foot. We wanted to make up ground with a late stop, but the regrouping of the field nullified this strategy. We had a very strong car here in qualifying, and we were also among the fastest in the race when we could run freely. Especially in the corners, we were better than our competitors. We will continue to work on improving even further.”

📷 © Courtesy of IMSA at Long Beach. #24 BMW M Hybrid V8.

Philipp Eng and Jesse Krohn in the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8, starting from ninth place, found it difficult to move forward on the street circuit but collected important points with a sixth-place finish.

Jesse Krohn (#24 BMW M Hybrid V8, 6th place): “The field was so close together that it was extremely difficult to move forward. Due to the yellow flags, the lapping of the GTD drivers, which we had hoped to take advantage of, did not come into play as expected. That is of course disappointing because the performance of the car was much better than the result. At least we took some points. Now we focus on Laguna Seca.” Source: BMW Group

BMW M Team WRT

BMW M Motorsport commenced the 2024 season in the FIA World Endurance Championship with the Qatar 1812 km at the Lusail International Circuit near Doha (UAE). In the Hypercar class, BMW M Team WRT enters two BMW M Hybrid V8s. However, the debut race of the prototype in the FIA WEC presented challenges.

Qatar 1812

BMW M Team WRT had a tough weekend in the Hypercar class, finishing P12 and P16 which was not really what the team was looking for.

The #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 concluded the season opener in 12th place with BMW M works drivers Sheldon van der Linde, René Rast and Robin Frijns.

Sheldon van der Linde (#20 BMW M Hybrid V8, 12th place Hypercar): “The first race of the WEC season is done. It was quite disappointing for the whole team to just miss the points in P12 with a completely clean race from outside and no real mistakes on execution. On the other hand, we have a lot more races to improve this year, with seven more events so I hope we can make some big steps on the car. We are learning a lot with BMW M Team WRT on our side and I believe that we have one of the best teams and will make significant steps. A big thanks to everyone for the hard work these last few weeks for this first race in FIA WEC and without these guys we wouldn’t be here so thank you so much.”

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Imola. #15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 at Qatar 1812.

Their teammates Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello and Marco Wittmann finished in 16th position in the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 after the car required a brief repair in the pitbox about an hour before the end.

Raffaele Marciello (#15 BMW M Hybrid V8, 16th place Hypercar): “It was definitely a tough race. We learnt a lot during this weekend and we will keep learning. We will analyse everything, and we will try to do better at Imola because I believe that we have the potential to be better and that’s why we are here.” Source: BMW Group

6 Hours of Imola

BMW M Team WRT also celebrated success in the Hypercar category after the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 showed very strong performance, battled for the podium for a long time, and ultimately finished in sixth place with Robin Frijns, René Rast and Sheldon van der Linde at the wheel.

📷 © Luc Warnotte. Sheldon van der Linde taking over from Robin Frijns in #20 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8.

The weather conditions, with rain setting in around the halfway point of the race, turned the event into a strategy gamble. However, all BMW M Motorsport teams made the right tyre choices and were rewarded with outstanding results. On the wet track, final driver van der Linde even had the podium within reach, but problems during the last pit stop and a subsequent drive-through penalty pushed the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 back to a still-strong sixth place.

Sheldon van der Linde (BMW M Team WRT, #20 BMW M Hybrid V8, 6th place): “In the end, that was one of the most challenging and craziest stints I've ever driven. I thought several times that I would lose the car. I knew I had to bring it home so we could score very good points. Luckily, that worked out. The team did a great job improving the car so much since Qatar. We can be very proud of that. Thank you to everyone!”

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Imola. #15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 at 6 Hours of Imola.

The #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 with Raffaele Marciello (SUI), Dries Vanthoor (BEL), and Marco Wittmann (GER) in the cockpit was unlucky and got innocently involved in a collision at the start. After about an hour of repairs, the team managed to get the car back on track for important test kilometres.

Marco Wittmann (BMW M Team WRT, #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, 18th place): “That was a wild start phase, where some of our competitors quite misjudged themselves. I was hit from behind and spun around. That was very annoying. The guys did a great job repairing the car and getting us back on track. That allowed us to collect important test kilometres. My stint after the repair was great. The car felt good, and we could have made up some places. The pace and balance were good; we need to build on that. Hopefully, we'll have more racing luck next time.” Source: BMW Group