IMSA Road America: Strong performance by the BMW M Hybrid V8 goes unrewarded.

Road America. The BMW M Team WRT had a top result in sight at the penultimate endurance race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA Series) season in Road America (USA), but after technical issues with both BMW M Hybrid V8s, they are still waiting for their first win of the year. Cooling problems dropped Marco Wittmann (GER) and Philipp Eng (AUT) in the #25 car back to seventh place. Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) and Dries Vanthoor (BEL) led the six-hour race in the first half, but then had to retire due to brake issues. They attracted attention not only with their sporting performance, but also with the special design of their #24 BMW M Hybrid V8: BMW M Motorsport has teamed up with Spider-Man: Brand New Day to create a striking special livery for Road America.

Van der Linde secured third place on the grid in Saturday’s qualifying. After the first pit stops, he took the lead, which he held until the driver change to Vanthoor. However, around the halfway point of the race, the tide turned. First, the #24 car lost several positions during a restart, then brake issues forced the crew to retire. The #25 car fought its way to the front after a difficult qualifying session thanks to a bold strategy, but cooling problems forced the team into a lengthy repair stop, dropping the car far back. In the end, they finished seventh.

In the GTD PRO class, the #1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Paul Miller Racing suffered a similar fate. After sliding into the tyre barriers, the car driven by Connor De Phillippi and Neil Verhagen (both USA) required lengthy repairs and finished only eleventh in its class. In the GTD category, Robby Foley, Patrick Gallagher, and Francis Selldorff (all USA) finished fifth in the #96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Turner Motorsport.

Comments after the race:

Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “Our disappointment is huge. It’s always very frustrating when you drop out or fall back due to technical issues. But it’s even more bitter when you’ve shown such strong pace all weekend and had a good chance to fight for victory. I feel sorry for everyone involved, who are working very hard but are not being rewarded with the corresponding results in the IMSA Series this year. The BMW M Hybrid V8 has proven to be very reliable this season. That’s why we need to take a close look at what caused the problems. We still have two races left – and we are determined to turn things around and secure at least one win. The whole crew deserves that.”

Vincent Vosse (Team Principal BMW M Team WRT): “This was not the result we had hoped for this weekend. The start of the race went very well. Sheldon was able to build a clear lead. Unfortunately, we couldn’t bring that home. We have good pace, but that alone is not enough. We also need to finish the races without mistakes and technical issues. We didn’t manage that. We will analyse exactly why that was and make another push for victory in Indianapolis.”

Philipp Eng (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8, BMW M Team WRT, 7th place GTP): “It feels like a race of missed opportunities. We had two fast cars, but technical problems can always happen. That’s part of racing. Our car felt very good in the race and had strong pace. I think we could have at least fought for a podium. Unfortunately, we carried our cooling problems with us for much of the race. In the end, we had no choice but to come in for repairs. That cost us two laps. It’s a real shame and I feel sorry for the team.”

Dries Vanthoor (#24 BMW M Hybrid V8, BMW M Team WRT, DNF): “We had a great weekend up until about halfway through the race. But then things started to go in the wrong direction. First, we lost some time and a few positions during the pit stop, then unfortunately I went off at the restart. Still, the team brought us back to the front with a bold strategy, and in the IMSA Series you never know if that might pay off in the end. Having to retire while leading is, of course, very sad. But on this fast track, it would have been too dangerous to continue with brake problems.”