Back to Basics
The debut of BMW's upgraded M Hybrid V8 wasn't going well. So the team went back to basics--and ended up on the podium at Daytona.
The Rolex 24 is never easy for any team. Pile on a new organization running the program and a new-ish car making its race debut, and BMW’s GTP squads headed into the IMSA season opener with measured expectations.
Yet at the end of 24 hours, the No. 24 team found itself in victory lane, celebrating a surprising third-place run.
“To be honest, this is a very unexpected podium,” said Dries Vanthoor, who both started and ended the race. “After the Roar, the practice sessions and qualifying, we weren’t particularly optimistic and never thought that we could even fight for victory.”
The race marked BMW M Team WRT’s IMSA GTP debut. The team participated in the BMW M Hybrid V8’s development and fielded it in WEC since its 2024 debut in that series. But Team RLL ran the car in its first three IMSA campaigns.
But last September, just four months before the Rolex 24, BMW M Motorsport decided to consolidate its prototype racing program and tapped WRT to take over in IMSA as well.
Meanwhile, BMW and Team WRT were busy updating the car, an 18-month effort to apply lessons learned from its IMSA and WEC outings. BMW’s second official EVO joker update focused on aerodynamic changes to help make the car more consistent through stints.
‘Super bad’
Feedback from testing, notably the official pre-season shakedown at Daytona in November, was positive.
But the optimism dimmed once official Rolex practice started.
“Our [Roar Before the Rolex 24] and our practice before the race, it was super bad,” Vanthoor said on the Over the Limit podcast he shares with brother Laurens. “We couldn’t last. We couldn’t do a proper double stint on the tire. It was just not fun to drive.”
Vanthoor, who also drives the car for Team WRT in WEC, likes setups with “a lot of oversteer,” he explained. But the revised No. 24 had “too much” in the days leading up to the Rolex 24. “We had a lot of issues with entry and stability,” he said.
Qualifying validated the team’s concerns. The BMWs came across eighth and ninth fastest in the 11-car GTP class.
“We were a second off,” Vanthoor said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, this is gonna be a long race.’”
Running out of ideas and practice time, Team WRT changed its approach. Instead of looking for a series of incremental, data-driven improvements, the team went back to basics, Vanthoor explained.
“The last [practice] session before the race, we did a big change on the car,” Vanthoor said.
Among the changes was a differential adjustment that added more suspension preload, which affects the car’s power distribution through corners, Vanthoor explained.
‘Quite okay’
The tweaks didn’t put the BMWs on top of the speed charts, but the cars became more drivable.
“We did a lot of basic stuff, and this actually helped,” Vanthoor said. “The car felt quite okay.”
The No. 24’s turnaround bid nearly ended seconds into the race. Vanthoor looped the car in turn three on the opening lap, and was fortunate not to collect anyone running behind him.
Disaster narrowly avoided, Vanthoor pressed on, completing a double stint to start the team on what would become a memorable journey that ended with the BMW M Hybrid V8’s tenth IMSA podium.
“This is one of the most surprising podiums of my career,” said No. 24 co-driver Sheldon van der Linde. “I don’t think anyone expected us to be able to fight for victory before the race. Everyone was a bit unhappy about the pace the car had – but we knew that the team was incredibly strong in the race.”
BMW M Motorsport head Andreas Roos lauded the expanded Team WRT’s perseverance.
“To build such a great team in North America in such a short time and then to make it onto the podium at the first attempt with a revised car is simply fantastic,” he said.
Vanthoor echoed Roos’s sentiments on how well the newly formed team performed.
“Hat’s off to them, because they started the whole thing in September,” he said. “They didn’t have any people, they didn’t have any trucks. They had nothing.”
Vanthoor is clearly pleased with his IMSA team’s progress. But the veteran BMW driver came to the post-race debrief with a specific request.
“I don’t know what happened. I don’t know what you guys did, but try to understand and make sure we can replicate it for the next race,” Vanthoor told the team. “Put it in your agenda. I don’t [care] what you do, but make sure you understand, because at the end, [the car] was nice to drive.”
References
Over the Limit podcast--https://laurensvanthoor.be/pages/podcast
From the archives
Aerodynamic Advances
Inside BMW’s process to improve its M Hybrid V8s ahead of the 2026 IMSA and WEC seasons.
Role Reversal
A scheduling conflict meant BMW M Team WRT had to change its driver lineup and re-assign some roles for the last WEC race. One of those changes--who qualifies the car--will remain in place.
And Then There Were Four
BMW's Watkins Glen triumph may have come on a technicality, but the maker's two IMSA GTP teams are proving they can race with anyone.