Fall-Line Evaluating BMW M6 GTD Program

Photo: Mike Juergens/AutoGuide.com

Fall-Line Motorsports could re-enter top-level IMSA competition in 2016, with the two-time Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge championship-winning squad evaluating a GT Daytona class effort with the new BMW M6 GT3.

The Buffalo Grove, Ill.-based team, which is unlikely to return to Continental Tire Challenge with its BMW M3s, is hoping to shift its focus to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next year, according to team manager Michael Harvey.

“We set out earlier this year to try and put a GTD program together,” Harvey told Sportscar365. “There’s still a lot of conversations going on between myself and BMW. We have some good prospects but it’s very late in the day.”

Harvey attended a test at Sebring last week with both the Team RLL BMW M6 GTLM car and a M6 GT3 test car, run by Turner Motorsport, the first confirmed U.S. customer for the V8 twin-turbo-powered GT3 contender.

With interest from BMW of North America to see an additional customer GTD effort, Harvey is working to find the necessary budget that could potentially see its 2015 BMW-supported GS drivers, Trent Hindman and Ashley Freiberg, at the wheel of the M6 GT3.

“We’ve got history with them,” Harvey said. “Ashley has been with us for two years now and Trent has been with us for just over three years. We see the future in both of them.

“We want to be able to provide them with a home. They’re not going to wait around forever; they’re talented kids and will go somewhere else. So I hope the stars align and we’d be able to provide them with something.”

One of the potential holdups, however, could be timing, as Harvey admitted a deal would have to be reached within the next few weeks in order to have any chance of getting a car in time for January’s season opener at Daytona.

“We’ve talked about that a lot, myself and Victor [Leleu, BMW Motorsport North America Manager] and the folks in Germany,” he said.

“At the end of the day, I’ve got to come up with the funds to do it. It’s going to be tight [timing] on their behalf. They’re building cars right now.”

Fall-Line are no strangers to the top IMSA class, having fielded an Audi R8 LMS in both GRAND-AM and selected races in the opening season of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

While the Audi has since been sold to a customer for club racing, Harvey sees the potential in the M6 for next year, after evaluating multiple GT3 options.

“The reason we would want to put the M6 on the track is that it covers all of the bases, in our opinion,” he said. “But as with all the others, it’s too new to know about reliability.

“Each manufacturer is testing their heart out to make sure their cars to last. It would be a different story if you’re starting out with a regular race but you’re starting out with a 24-hour race.

“GTD is going to be an interesting class next year and the title is going to be decided on reliability. Who can bring a new car out and finish the 24 and the 12-hour? That’s indicative of who’s going to win the championship.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John