BMW

The recently made Bavarian Hybrid V8 returns to the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the 24 Hours of Le Mans (FRA) in 2024

BMW Motorsport returns to the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the 24 Hours of Le Mans (FRA) in 2024. One year after its rookie season in the US IMSA WeatherTech SportsCars Championship in 2023, the new BMW The M Hybrid V8 will also face first-class opposition in the Hypercars category in the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship. On the 25th of July 2022, the first prototype of the BMW M Motorsport completed its first laps at its launch in Varano de Melegari (ITA); the legendary BMW V12 LMR triumphed there 25 years ago.

“The decision to run the BMW M Hybrid V8 in the IMSA series from 2023 and in the WEC from 2024 is a great achievement for the project,” said Franciscus van Meel, CEO of BMW M GmbH. “I tested and marveled at the extraordinary style of the 24 Hours of Le Mans during my first tenure as CEO of BMW M, so I am very excited about this overall victory challenge with BMW M Motorsport, once again in this classic and in the entire World Endurance Championship for the first time in decades. The BMW M Hybrid V8 represents a tipping point for the electrification of the BMW M. The IMSA series in the US and the WEC, which takes place around the world, are the perfect platforms to use our prototype to demonstrate just how exciting the vehicles will be. BMW M electrified in the future”.

Andreas Roos, Managing Director of BMW M Motorsport, said: “Due to the very tight schedule for the LMDh project, the plan has always been to focus on the first season of 2023. The IMSA series is perfect for this. However, our mid-term objective was obviously to race on two fronts with the BMW M Hybrid V8, and also to utilize the larger platform provided by the WEC and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. We are now working hard towards this, at the same time as our program in the United States. We took an important step last Monday. The vehicle successfully completed its launch on the Dallara track in Varano de Melegari. We now begin intensive testing work ahead of the January 2023 race debut at Daytona.”

The BMW M Hybrid V8 didn't just use the Dallara test track for its first functional test, but will also spend several days at the track this week. BMW M drivers Connor De Phillippi (USA) and Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) alternate behind the wheel. “It has been an honor and a pleasure to complete the first few laps of the BMW M Hybrid V8,” said De Phillippi after the launch on Monday. “This was a historic day for BMW M Motorsport within the LMDh project. Step by step, we went through all the functions of the vehicle and at the end of the day we were able to complete a few laps with almost full power, which is a good result for the launch. A huge thank you to everyone who works so hard for this project at BMW M Motorsport: the BMW M RLL Team, the BMW M RMG Team and Dallara!”

More testing in Europe is scheduled for the month of August before the BMW M RLL Team and a team of experts from BMW M Motorsport begin specific preparations for IMSA with testing in the United States from September. During the course of the testing phase, several BMW M drivers will be behind the wheel. Who will occupy the cockpits for the 2023 IMSA season will be decided at a later date. The same applies for the operations team for the WEC and the drivers for the 2024 season.

BMW M Motorsport returns to Le Mans with a prototype for the first time since 1999. At the time, Joachim Winkelhock (GER), Pierluigi Martini (ITA) and Yannick Dalmas (FRA) took the overall victory after 24 hours of racing the BMW. V12 MRL. In the same year, the vehicle also triumphed in the 12 Hours of Sebring (USA), where its successor, the BMW M Hybrid V8, will compete in 2023.

Autonews