BMW Could Move IMSA Drivers to WEC Hypercar Program

Photo: BMW

BMW has not ruled out moving one or several of its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP class drivers to Team WRT’s new factory Hypercar class effort in the FIA World Endurance Championship next year according to BMW M Motorsport boss Andreas Roos.

The German manufacturer, which will be present with a pair of BMW M Hybrid V8s in both championships next year, will need a minimum of ten drivers for the dual-series effort.

While having tested upwards of a dozen drivers so far in European testing, Roos admitted that lineups for both series in 2024 have not yet been locked down and that utilizing the experience of a current WeatherTech Championship driver or two could be beneficial for the upstart WEC squad.

“It’s for sure a thing that we are looking into,” Roos told Sportscar365.

“We haven’t defined yet who will be the WEC drivers and who will be the IMSA drivers. But for sure, it’s something that we think about, also to [bring] over experience from running the car one year [in IMSA] under racing conditions and not only testing into the WEC championship.

“But on the other hand you also don’t want to swap the drivers around all the time because they have to work together.

“They have to work together with the team, the engineers, the mechanics and everything.

“So there are pros and cons. We have to see at the end where there are more pros and where there are more cons and then take a decision from there.”

While American Connor De Phillippi is unlikely to move to the WEC, his three current teammates, Augusto Farfus, Philipp Eng and Nick Yelloly were all new to full-time WeatherTech Championship racing this year.

Roos said he envisions following a similar philosophy to Porsche in utilizing several of its WEC drivers for the Michelin Endurance Cup roles in the WeatherTech Championship next year.

“This would be my hope and I think this should be possible,” he said.

“We don’t have to have six drivers who only do the WEC and the four main drivers for IMSA or even six drivers for IMSA who do the endurance [races] also.

“I hope that we can fill up there and take WEC drivers to fill up for the [IMSA] endurance races.”

When asked if BMW will make further additions to its factory roster, which currently stands at 22 pilots with the recent signing of Robin Frijns, Roos said they’re currently taking a wait-and-see approach.

He admitted clashing events with the WeatherTech Championship would theoretically isolate its four full-season IMSA GTP pilots to that series only.

“We have to see now. We have to look into [it],” he said. “But as it’s challenging, we have to see if we can move [them] if that’s possible, but you also don’t want to have drivers who are missing races. Because at the end how do you want to win a championship?

“And it’s also difficult, let’s say for example when there is a clash and then you have a pair of three drivers who do let’s say a WEC championship and then they are missing one race.

“So at the end when the car is competitive and maybe wins the championship then two drivers win the championship and the one who missed one race because of a clash, he can look how his colleagues will be world champion and he’s standing there and can do the applause.

“So that’s also what you don’t really want to do, that the drivers are missing out [on] races.”

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