Yelloly: RLL Aiming to Take ‘Next Step’ in GTP’s Second Year

Nick Yelloly says BMW can be “happy” with the progress made during its first season in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTP class, but that it should now focus towards the ‘next step’ of becoming a consistent title-challenging threat.

Yelloly and co-driver Connor De Phillippi steered the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 to four podiums and a race victory during the Dallara-chassised machine’s first season in the WeatherTech Championship, resulting in sixth place in the drivers’ championship standings.

The M Hybrid V8 debuted at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in what became a “tough and difficult race” that saw Yelloly and De Phillippi hamstrung by an early hybrid problem that initially cost two and a half hours.

From there, the No. 25 BMW went on to pick up two consecutive second place finishes, first at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and then narrowly losing out to Porsche on the streets of Long Beach.

With two more podiums and the breakthrough victory at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of Glen, Yelloly told Sportscar365 that BMW M Team RLL can be proud of its steep rate of learning throughout the first season.

“Happy, because with the lack of testing development, just from delays in the world, we started on the back foot compared to Porsche,” said Yelloly.

“I think it was six months behind and already in Long Beach or in Sebring, we were actually second.

“In Long Beach, on pace, we were second and I feel we should have won the race had it not been for them being a bit smarter than us with tire changing.

“So I think we can be very proud of that. Also, technically and reliability-wise, after Daytona, on the No. 25 car at least, we didn’t really have many issues.”

Yelloly is expected to continue alongside De Phillippi for the car’s second year of competition, having been BMW’s most successful pairing last year.

The British driver said his knowledge gained during the first season, as well as the strong foundations laid in his partnership with De Philippi, should allow him to take the next step and become more competitive in the GTP category next year.

“I’ve been to all the tracks now, whereas I’ve been to zero, apart from Daytona and Sebring, beforehand this year,” said Yelloly.

“So when I turn up, I don’t have to learn the track and then give setup comments. I can just get on with developing the car with Connor. Usually I’m very fast at learning circuits, so I think that helped already.

“But you always feel more comfortable when you know where the pit lane is, how to attack the pit entry, what bumps are where.

“I think having now worked with Connor, we got on very well beforehand and now I speak to him probably more than I do my fiancee most of the time during the season. So we’re definitely pushing for the right goals and have the right ideas on setup.

“We’re in the same direction as well, same driving style, so it works very well together. We need to eke out the last performance bits.

“As you saw, Porsche were way ahead in development in terms of starting point and only mid-to-end of the year did they start to become more competitive.

“So we’re at that stage now where I feel that we should be taking that step. Hopefully before Daytona in January.”

Yelloly pointed out that the No. 25 crew’s consistency was its main strength throughout the year, tying Meyer Shank Racing at five in the number of top-three finishes across the season.

“I’m not sure if anyone else did that, to be honest,” said Yelloly.

“Maybe the same, but I don’t think anyone got more. So number one, our team and crew did very well. The drivers did very well and the consistency and reliability of the car after Daytona seemed to be very good.”