BMW Has “Very Intensive” Exchange Between WRT, RLL

Photo: BMW

BMW M Motorsport director Andreas Roos has described the interaction between its two LMDh factory teams as “very intensive” with the German manufacturer ramping up for its FIA World Endurance Championship debut.

Team WRT will enter a pair of BMW M Hybrid V8s in the Hypercar class of the globe-trotting series next year, joining the already established race-winning Team RLL operation in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Speaking with Sportscar365, Roos believes that gains have already been made to the Dallara-chassied prototype with the addition of the Belgian squad to the mix.

WRT has conducted multiple tests in Europe with the M Hybrid V8, which has helped contribute to the car’s overall development ahead of the second season of the LMDh platform.

“We have a very intensive exchange between both programs,” Roos explained.

“They are definitely not separated because at the end it’s all the development and a lot of things that are directly from Munich.

“All the inputs go in and go out from there in both directions.

“I can’t tell you now if the car is two, three, four, five tenths quicker, for sure not.

“But we clearly see that we have done improvements in drivability, also in lap time for some tracks. The drivers feel more comfortable in the car.

“It’s endurance racing. It’s a lot about having a car where the drivers can do consistent lap times. This is what we’re working on and making quite good improvements at the moment.”

While gains have been made with having two teams on track, Roos confirmed they will not pursue any so-called ‘EVO Jokers’ for the car next year.

So far, only Porsche has publicly confirmed plans to roll out updates to its LMDh car for 2024.

“The [LMDh] cars are homologated for five years,” Roos said. “You can, from the regulation side do Evolution Jokers but they also have to be agreed by a committee and so on.

“At the moment there’s no need for us to really do anything at the moment. We still have potential in the car how it is, what we still have to exploit and extract from the car.

“As we are now having the WEC test car already running for some months and also the IMSA test car running and the IMSA races, we’re generating more and more data and more and more understanding about the car.

“This should also help us extract more from the car. There’s no need for us at the moment to do performance or evolutions.”

Roos said that the car is currently in the process of the WEC homologation process, something the German manufacturer did not pursue last year as it was initially focused exclusively on the WeatherTech Championship.

“For sure, for the WEC championship, the car now gets the WEC homologation with the Sauber wind tunnel and everything,” he said.

“This is done already. It’s not finalized already because this is a longer process but part of it, from the homologation process, is already started and done. Some things are already ticked off.”

Expanded Program Going in “Right Direction” for BMW

Roos said he’s been pleased with the trajectory of BMW’s sports car racing activities, which will now include participation in both the Hypercar and LMGT3 classes of the WEC next year.

“It’s a lot of programs,” he said.

“Already running the IMSA and WEC championship in [GTP] and Hypercar is already quite tough. Both are high class championships where you compete with the best sports car manufacturers.

“Also our GT program is quite intense with a lot of pinnacle events and top class championships.

“Yes, it’s a lot of work but I have to say that the people in Munich and also our teams are highly motivated and everyone is looking forward and happy in the end that we do so many championships and we can compete in so many championships.

“You always have to push that you are competitive and as long as you are competitive, it’s always fun.

“But I think we showed that in the last two years that also with our M4 GT3, we’re able to win races and championships, so it’s going in the right direction.”

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