Hard Work Has Been Rewarded with Back-to-Back Second-Place FinishesApril 28, 2023By John OreoviczIMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship does not hand out a “Most Improved” award at its annual postseason WeatherTech Night of Champions.If it did, BMW M Team RLL and the BMW M Hybrid V8 would be the runaway frontrunners for the achievement a quarter of the way into the 2023 campaign.The German marque made the decision to build a prototype racer to LMDh specifications eligible for IMSA and FIA World Endurance Championship competition at least six months later than its rivals from Porsche, Acura and Cadillac. Testing and initial car development didn’t always go smoothly. And when the ’23 season opened at Daytona International Speedway in January, it sometimes looked like the BMW program hadn’t progressed as much as the others.“We started off, I would say, on the back foot at Daytona,” admitted Nick Yelloly, co-driver of the No. 25 BMW with Connor De Phillippi. “You’re trying to get this huge program up and running, and we had a super short timeframe compared to the competitors to actually put the program together and get the right people involved, and also get the right amount of testing done in order to be competitive.”Still, there were encouraging signs in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. The No. 24 car shared by Augusto Farfus and Philipp Eng, with endurance drivers Marco Wittmann and Colton Herta, made it to the finish in sixth place – albeit 15 laps behind the winning No. 60 Acura. And while the No. 25 was hindered by mechanical issues, it showed more of its potential, with De Phillippi turning a lap just 0.384 seconds off the winning Acura.BMW’s high-profile debut in IMSA’s new Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class was witnessed in person by BMW M Division CEO Franciscus van Meel and several key members of BMW’s upper management.“Crossing the finish line with both BMW M Hybrid V8s is a crucial first step on the way to what will hopefully be a successful future,” van Meel stated. “The fact that the Chairman of the Board of Management visited Daytona shows just what great support the future-oriented LMDh program enjoys within the entire BMW Group.”Seven weeks later at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the BMWs showed notable improvement, especially in race trim. Endurance driver Sheldon van der Linde’s best lap in the No. 25 was less than a tenth of a second slower than the pace-setting Cadillac, and De Phillippi was in the fortuitous position to move up to second place when the leaders crashed late in the race.“It’s fantastic that we were able to score our maiden podium with the new BMW M Hybrid V8 in only its second race,” said Andreas Roos, Head of BMW M Motorsport. “Thanks to the hard work in Munich and at BMW M Team RLL in Indianapolis, we are gradually getting closer to the performance level that we want to achieve.”Things got even better two weeks ago at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, where Yelloly qualified the No. 25 a season-best fourth, right in front of the No. 24 BMW, and ahead of both Porsche 963s. The BMWs again showed impressive race pace, with De Phillippi turning the fastest lap of any GTP driver. In fact, De Phillippi mixed it up for the win with Ricky Taylor (No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06) and Mathieu Jaminet (No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963) until Taylor crashed with two laps remaining. De Phillippi settled for a second consecutive runner-up finish for the No. 25 BMW, with Eng and Farfus taking fourth place in the No. 24.“A lot of comments on the internet and what not from some of the journalists who said we benefitted from the crash (that eliminated the leaders at Sebring), so to come here and beat them on pace feels quite nice, I have to say,” Yelloly commented. “Connor, in that last stint, gave it everything.”De Phillippi said the Long Beach result resonated throughout the program, reaffirming the months of dedicated efforts.“It’s a huge morale boost,” De Phillippi said. “Considering the pace we had in Daytona, then we came a little closer at Sebring, then to be right there in the mix here, where we were able to match the Acura’s pace in the race, I think it’s super encouraging to see that we’ve come that far and have gotten this close.“We have our aim very high, and we have a lot of things to work on still,” he added. “But it’s very satisfying for myself and everyone I know who is working a lot of hours, burning the midnight oil seven days a week to make this all work. I’m just really happy for them.”The GTP class returns to action at the Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N, the upcoming WeatherTech Championship event at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca from May 12-14. The race airs live on NBC at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, May 14. |
