BMW Leaning Towards Existing Drivers for GTP Lineup

BMW M Motorsport is leaning toward a GTP lineup for next year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season that consists of drivers from its current factory roster.

The manufacturer’s head of motorsport Andreas Roos (pictured left, alongside LMDh project manager Maurizio Leschiutta) has said that BMW’s current crop of mostly GT drivers covers all the bases required for a top-level prototype effort.

Current IMSA GTD Pro entrant Team RLL will run two BMW M Hybrid V8s in the new GTP category next season, while lineups have not yet been announced.

BMW’s factory roster this year consists of: Nicky Catsburg, Jake Dennis, Connor De Phillippi, Stef Dusseldorp, John Edwards, Philipp Eng, Augusto Farfus, Timo Glock, Erik Johansson, Jens Klingmann, Jesse Krohn, Sheldon van der Linde, Alexander Sims, Bruno Spengler, Marco Wittmann and Nick Yelloly. There is also the BMW Junior Team trio of Dan Harper, Max Hesse and Neil Verhagen.

A GTP lineup would require two full-time driver pairings, plus two additional drivers for the Michelin Endurance Cup races and extras for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

“I think we can be happy with our BMW driver lineup,” Roos told Sportscar365 when asked about options for drivers next year.

“We have, I think, enough good drivers where we are sure they can do the job over there.

“It’s a mixture of speed, experience, knowing how U.S. racing works and knowing the tracks. But also experience with downforce cars.

“All of this is a combination of what you have to bring together [in the lineup]. You have young guys, older guys with more experience… at the end, I think it will be a good mix.”

When asked if BMW would consider recruiting drivers from outside its factory roster, which currently stands at 16 members excluding the Junior Team, Roos said: “I think we have enough drivers!

“We also have a lot of drivers from outside who are interested in what we are doing.

“For sure you always have a look at them, but I think we can be very happy with our driver lineup that we have.”

BMW’s stance is similar to that of LMH manufacturer Ferrari, which is planning to exclusively use drivers from its current factory GT lineup for the first year of its Hypercar program in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

BMW is joining the WEC grid with Team WRT from 2024, but Roos said it’s too early to say whether those seats will be open to drivers from outside the marque.

“To be honest, we have had the focus on getting the WEC program to go,” he said.

“Now all of this starts to be discussed, how we can build it up. But we have to concentrate on the IMSA championship and then we will see.

“We can be happy that drivers from the outside are asking, but that doesn’t mean that we will take drivers from the outside.

“On the other hand, it’s nice that drivers are interested in working together with BMW.”

Car Was “Really Complete” in First Shakedown

BMW conducted the first test of its Dallara-based LMDh car at the Varano circuit last week, with Connor De Phillippi and Sheldon van der Linde sharing the wheel.

Roos explained that the car was “really complete from A to Z” as it ran with the spec LMDh hybrid system – featuring a Bosch MGU, Williams battery and Xtrac gearbox – in a fully operational state.

“Everything is in the car and working,” he said. “For sure not everything is perfect from the beginning, but this is how you develop it. We are happy with our progress.

“The first target to hit was the rollout last Monday, which we managed. Everybody can be proud to hit the deadlines.”

Rollout testing continued at Varano last week after the initial Monday run, with De Phillippi and van der Linde staying on for a few more days. The testing team at Varano was a mixture of staff from BMW M Motorsport, Dallara and RLL and development squad RMG.

BMW is hoping that it can build up the mileage quickly as it faces a short period between the rollout and the so-called ‘sanctioned’ homologation tests for next year’s IMSA participants, although Roos stressed the importance of not rushing the work.

The first IMSA sanctioned test takes place at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on October 3-5.

“It was the first time when all the hardware and software are working together, and all the systems are communicating in the right way,” Roos reflected.

“This is the first initial check you do, and then you build up from step to step, getting more into running and race speed. But on the first meters, you do in and out-laps.

“Then you build up, doing some laps in a row. This is the normal procedure.

“It’s not about performance testing right now. It’s just to really get everything sorted so that when we start performance testing everything is sorted beforehand.

“But we are taking our time, preparing well and trying to get everything in the right window.”