The BMW M Hybrid V8 had its ‘baptism’ on the asphalt at the Varano circuit fruit of the link between the German firm and Dallara. A first shakedown that served to verify that all the systems of the German prototype were working correctly. Sheldon Van der Linde and Connor De Phillippi were in charge of completing the first kilometers of the BMW LMDh before beginning the final test program that will lead the prototype to debut in 2023 at the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and more specifically at the 24 Hours of Daytona.
A lot has happened since BMW Motorsport managed to reign in the global resistance in 1999. Joachim Winkelhock, Pierluigi Martini and Yannick Dalmas took overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In the same year, the BMW prototype also achieved victory in the 12 Hours of Sebring. Following the order in which these trumps came, the BMW M Hybrid V8 as its natural successor will compete first in the United States. It will do so in the IMSA GTP class, seeking victory at Daytona, Sebring or Petit Le Mans throughout the 2023 season.
The BMW M Hybrid V8 program at IMSA will be supported by Team RLL, a structure that will also carry the weight of the tests. Test program that has started in Varano and will continue in Europe. The connection with Dallara makes it appropriate to accumulate as many kilometers as possible in the old continent before moving operations to American soil. In this sense, BMW Motorsport plans to carry out several tests with its LMDh prototype in August before start specific preparations in the United States in September.
From that moment on, the BMW M Hybrid V8 will live more or less perennially in the United States., participating in the collective test that IMSA has designed in Daytona. The prototype will also roll in Sebring in a testing phase in which new official BMW drivers will be added beyond the figure of Sheldon Van der Linde and Connor De Phillippi. BMW will evaluate its drivers in these tests before deciding its driver line-up for the IMSA GTP class for 2023..
Once the driver line-up is defined, BMW Motorsport will focus all its efforts on the debut of the BMW M Hybrid V8 at the 24 Hours of Daytona in January.before competing in the rest of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship rounds. It will not be until 2024 when the BMW LMDh prototype arrives at the WEC, initially with a complete program in the hypercar class. That yes, the signature of Munich will have to define the team that will support the project in the World Cup and the pilots involved in this second ‘part’ of the project in the WEC.
Photos: BMW Motorsport