There really hasn’t been a starker example amongst the current Hypercar roster of wasted potential than BMW. Since the introduction of its M V8 Hybrid LMDh chassis in 2023, where it suffered an awful debut showing it’s been a rocky ride for both sides of the programme. But Munich’s taken action ahead of the car’s fourth campaign, with changes to it’s driver lineup, team structure and even the car itself.
Indeed, for the first time since the programme went global BMW have utilized one of three available ‘jokers’, applying upgrades to various parts of their car under a system designed to prevent a repeat of the spending war that doomed LMP1.
If we’re talking pure aesthetics here, I’ll have to admit I vastly preferred the older model. The redesigned front sees BMW’s iconic ‘kidney’ air intake, used across the majority of their race and road models, slimmed to align with Munich’s brand identity. The splitter has also been tweaked to allow for the increased optimization of airflow, and the updates also include brand new headlights.
Now these adjustments may seem almost a footnote, and of course there’s an argument that BoP may hide their effects. The truth is we’ll have no idea exactly how effective they’re actually going to be until the car hits the track next week, but at the very least it’s a sure sign that BMW still considers this car worthy of its time and investment.
Perhaps there’s also extra pressure to triumph over Porsche, who have slimmed down their own efforts this year.
And where IMSA is concerned, it’s apparent that BMW are really pushing for success this year. So set are they on world-domination that Munich severed ties with Team RLL last year, a partnership that was 17 years strong until divorce. In their place comes WRT.
What, did you really think it would be anyone else?
Sure, while the Belgian outfit hasn’t exactly set the World Endurance Championship alight thus far in the way they were perhaps expected to, they’ll still been a very competent team. Scoring 5th in their debut WEC season was testament to that – and they were nailed on for 4th and ‘best of the rest’ before a timely overtake from Alpine swapped their places at the last round in Bahrain. And in 2025 they came 5th again as Cadillac joined Toyota, Ferrari and Porsche as the runaway quartet, this time pipping Alpine by a single point.
IMSA though provides an opportunity to rise above that mid-field status and truly lay down the gauntlet. RLL found themselves constantly outdone on strategy, and for most of their time in GTP could never seem to eek out the same level of performance as their peers. With WRT at the helm I’m fully expecting that to change.
Continuing on the IMSA front, that provides a neat segue into driver talk. All eight full time drivers have been retained to compete across WEC and IMSA, but there has been a subtle change in the stateside lineups. Now in his second full season Dries Vanthoor will swap sides of the garage with Phillip Eng, as the Belgian joins Sheldon Van Der Linde in the #24 while Eng takes Vanthoor’s place partnering Marco Wittmann in the #25.
I do think it represents a positive change, as Sheldon especially impressed me at points during his WEC run this year, and Dries Vanthoor is, well, Dries Vanthoor. This was the man who began last year by taking pole position at both Daytona and Sebring in incredible displays.
With Kevin Magnussen and Rafelle Marciello joining the #25 as its endurance drivers, and Robin Frinjs and Rene Rast doing the same for the sister car IMSA could well be a very lucrative series for BMW this year.
As for their WEC efforts, there’s a calming stability. It’s the same driver lineups as before with Magnussen and Marciello piloting the #20 alongside Vanthoor while Frinjs and Rast take control of the sister #15 alongside Sheldon Van Der Linde.
IMSA Prediction: 3rd.
It will be tight. Cadillac are always going to be incredibly strong and with WRT going through their first season with this car at tracks they’ve never run it at there will be a few wobbles, but ultimately they’ll prove why they got this gig.
WEC Prediction: 5th
Look, I know this is a very easy, safe one and yes Porsche aren’t there anymore. But I still don’t know if they can really challenge Toyota Ferrari and Cadillac consistently yet. They’ll be up there, of that there isn’t a question. But with a dismal Le Mans record so far and having remained rather invisible for most of last season I can’t see them making massive strides.
image credit – SmackJam, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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