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Photo; Julien Delfosse/DPPI
BMW is open to the possibility of running an additional Hypercar entry at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2025 although it wants to have “everything sorted” with its full-season FIA World Endurance Championship effort before it considers an expansion.
The German manufacturer, which made its top class WEC debut in last weekend’s Qatar 1812km, has elected to focus on the pair of Team WRT-run BMW M Hybrid V8s for its Le Mans return, choosing not to follow the example set by Porsche Penske Motorsport.
Porsche brought in a third works-run 963 at the French endurance classic last year, staffed by its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship crew.
Like Porsche, BMW now competes in both the WeatherTech Championship and WEC in parallel albeit with separate teams, as Team RLL is responsible for operating the LMDh car in the U.S. races.
BMW M Motorsport director Andreas Roos told Sportscar365 that the brand consciously decided not to bring in a third Hypercar at Le Mans this year, as it wants to focus on its learning curve with Team WRT before it considers an expansion.
“In the first year, we definitely said we will concentrate on the two cars in the WEC, because we say everything is new for us, also as BMW Motorsport to come back in the WEC on the highest level with the prototypes,” Roos explained.
“We really want to make sure that with two cars we have everything sorted, we can concentrate on the two cars.
“Hopefully we do well this year and then maybe we can see if in the future we can step up.”
Roos stressed that a call likely won’t be made until after the end of the season.
“At the end, it’s down to how this year goes, it’s down to resources, it’s down to budget,” he said. “There’s a lot of things involved. You need to bring cars over from the U.S., etc.
“So there is for sure a possibility. I don’t want to say it will never happen, but we have to clearly look after this year into it, if this is in the future a possibility or not.”
Roos, meanwhile, recognized the upside of having an additional bullet in the gun at La Sarthe, something BMW has not previously done.
It entered two cars apiece in its last factory prototype outings in 1998 and 1999, respectively.
“For sure, it’s always nice to have an additional car, especially in Le Mans,” said Roos.
“We know how brutal Le Mans can be with technical problems, with crashes or whatever. So the more cars you have, the higher the chances that you get through.
“For sure, this is always better, but we also took the decision that for us it’s better to have two cars that we focused on and that we prepared best instead of just bringing an additional car and maybe pulling the other cars down.
“This is why we said we concentrate now on the two cars, and then maybe in the future we will see.
“For sure, Rahal would be happy to run a car there. Also Bobby, when you talk to him, it’s always a big dream for him, also to be in Le Mans with his team and also to win Le Mans.
“This is a big thing. But for 2024, we clearly said we focus on the two cars.”
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