BMW M Team RLL Sets Factory GTD Pro Lineups for Rolex 24

BMW M Team RLL has announced the factory driver lineups that will give the new BMW M4 GT3 its IMSA race debut in the GTD Pro class of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Former GT Le Mans class winners Augusto Farfus, Connor De Phillippi, John Edwards and Jesse Krohn will share the No. 25 BMW M4 GT3 in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opener this month.

The No. 24 BMW M4 GT3 will be driven by Philipp Eng — another Daytona GTLM class victor — as well as Marco Wittmann, Nick Yelloly and Sheldon van der Linde.

BMW M Team RLL is embarking on a season in the new GTD Pro class ahead of its LMDh program with BMW in 2023.

Krohn and van der Linde are only confirmed for Daytona, with the six other drivers set to tackle the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March.

Post-Sebring, it’s expected the program will reduce to a single-car effort for De Phillippi and Edwards.

In addition to the factory crews, the BMW M4 GT3 will also be represented in the standard pro-am GTD category through Turner Motorsport, which is running a car for Bill Auberlen, Robby Foley, Michael Dinan and Jens Klingmann.

“It hasn’t even been two months since we bid farewell to the BMW M8 GTE at Petit Le Mans, and we’re already in the critical phase of preparing for the first major IMSA highlight for the new BMW M4 GT3,” said Mike Krack, head of BMW M Motorsport.

“With our drivers who will be competing in the two BMW M Team RLL BMW M4 GT3s, we have opted for speed and experience – both at Daytona and with the new car.

“Almost all of our BMW M works drivers have already contested the 24 Hours of Daytona and will be working together to find the perfect set-up for the BMW M4 GT3 at the International Speedway during the ‘Roar before the 24’ already.

“I am confident that we will be very well prepared going into the GTD Pro premiere of the IMSA series. I’m also looking forward to seeing how Turner Motorsport fares in the GTD class.”

BMW won the GTLM class at Daytona in 2019 and 2020 with the recently-retired BMW M8 GTE.

The first victory came courtesy of Farfus, Eng, De Phillippi and Colton Herta, while Farfus successfully defended the accolade the following year alongside Edwards, Krohn and Chaz Mostert.