Van der Linde: BMW Updates “Going to Help” in Le Mans

Photo: Andrea Lorenzina/DPPI

Sheldon van der Linde said he’s upbeat on BMW M Team WRT’s chances at the 24 Hours of Le Mans following its recent string of momentum and the fact that its Evo joker update was specifically designed for Circuit de la Sarthe.

The South African and co-drivers Rene Rast and Robjin Frijns gave the German manufacturer its breakthrough first FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar win in last month’s 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, in a landmark 1-2 finish for the pair of BMW M Hybrid V8s.

“It came at the right point for us,” van der Linde told Sportscar365. “We knew that with every year passing, we have high expectations, the board at BMW, the people around us, it’s our third year in WEC already.

“Naturally with every year we have more expectation, more pressure, to perform. The longer you wait, the more that pressure starts building.

“You can really feel it before Spa that everyone was wanting to get the result.

“On paper, we looked super strong going into the weekend and we wanted to capitalize on it and make sure we stood on the podium before Le Mans to bring the confidence up before the biggest race of the year.

“That’s exactly what we did and we feel good.”

When asked if he feels BMW can go for the win at Le Mans, van der Linde pointed out the fact that the LMDh-based car’s aero overhaul for this year was designed with Le Mans specifically in mind.

“I think the Evo package is definitely going to help us there,” he said. “The whole philosophy of the package is also based around Le Mans, so essentially that should be the best track for us.

“If we can already perform at a track like Spa where it’s not 100 percent in line with Le Mans, it gives us a direction of what the car is going to do.

“Because of that, I believe we have a very good chance of executing on a weekend where we were quite quick last year.”

Van der Linde believes the “usual suspects” will be at the top of the pecking order again, once track activity kicks off on Sunday at the test day, specifically calling out Ferrari and Toyota.

“I think they haven’t shown what they can do yet, personally,” he said. “I think Alpine is a dark horse for that. Cadillac will be strong as always. We’ve got the same chassis as them.

“I’d like to see us as a dark horse as well going into the weekend. We’re building on very strong momentum at the moment.”

With WRT’s experience in the WeatherTech Championship, along with van der Linde and teammate Dries Vanthoor’s dual series programs, the South African believes they could have a slight leg up on some of the Hypercar competition that doesn’t run in the IMSA GTP ranks.

“There’s more manufacturers, so you have the big brands like Ferrari and Toyota adding to that competitiveness,” he said.

“I wouldn’t say it’s more competitive because [in IMSA] we have a big challenge from Cadillac and Acura as well, which isn’t in WEC.

“It’s challenging in a different way but I think the experience of Ferrari having won the last three years obviously helps them a lot. They know exactly what to do.

“But then again we have a new tire on the Michelin as well and not everyone knows really what to expect from that. That will be interesting.”

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