Vanthoor Downplays BMW’s Pole Chances With Updated Car

Photo: Julien Delfosse/DPPI

Dries Vanthoor has downplayed BMW’s chances of fighting for pole in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, suggesting the M Hybrid V8’s Evo joker update for this year has sacrificed single-lap pace for improved performance in long runs.

Vanthoor, who was quickest in qualifying in his and the German manufacturer’s Le Mans Hypercar debut in 2024, and qualified fourth for last year’s French endurance classic in the final Hyperpole session, said the Belgian squad is focused on race pace.

The pair of Team WRT-run BMWs were third and 14th quickest in Wednesday’s Free Practice 1, heading into this evening’s qualifying that will decide the Hyperpole contenders for tomorrow’s shootout.

“Obviously we’ve got good hopes coming here,” he told Sportscar365. “Also we know that we should be strong at these kind of tracks.

“Our whole package, of what we’re trying to evolve on with the Evo car, should come to us.

“Le Mans is a very specific track. You can’t come testing here, you just have to make sure it works when you put the car on the ground.

“But I have good hopes and a good belief in the team and BMW that we should hopefully be strong this weekend.”

When asked about their chances for pole honors, one year after fellow Dallara-chassied LMDh cars from Cadillac swept the front row, Vanthoor, who scored a shock GTE-Pro pole in 2021, admitted he doesn’t think it’s in the cards any longer.

“The Evo that we have, I think we lost a little bit in terms of qualifying,” he said. “We lost some aggressiveness, some bite, which we had last year.

“But obviously that comes back to us in the race. We’ve got a strong race car.

“Obviously in a 24-hour race, I’d much prefer a stronger race car than a quali car.

“Being on pole in Le Mans is also something that is pretty cool. It doesn’t win you the race but it’s a cool box to tick off.

“If it will be this year, obviously I’ll try my best. But I would not be surprised if we lose out a bit on quali but we make that up in the race.”

After watching his brother, Laurens, come less than 15 seconds away from victory last year in one of Penske’s Porsche 963s, which are not on the grid this year, Dries admitted he hopes that it could finally be time for a LMDh-based prototype to take victory in the race.

“I hope,” he said. “The last couple of years, it’s always been a LMH show. I do hope this year, for the whole series and everything, we can [help] make that change.

“It will be tough because you know that they’re very strong. But we’ll try our best.”

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