BMW will return to Le Mans in 2024 with its M Hybrid V8 LMDh car, the German manufacturer has announced.
The company is competing in IMSA with its brand new car next year, in the new GTP class. However, a Le Mans campaign had not been announced when the car was unveiled back in June.
Now, however, it has been officially announced BMW will compete, in 2024, in the top World Endurance Championship class, Hypercar, and will also compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a round of the WEC.
It is currently unknown which team will campaign the BMW cars as a factory effort. However BMW’s press release does mention, in passing, RMG, which used to campaign BMW cars in the DTM…
The new car completed its first rollout today at Varano, in Italy, near to Dallara’s base, with BMW factory drivers Conor de Phillippi and Sheldon van der Linde at the wheel. The car is based on the underpinnings of the Dallara P217, the same as Cadillac’s as-yet unnamed LMDh prototype.
Further tests are scheduled for August, before US track running with BMW US factory team, Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan, running the car from September onwards at tracks around the United States.
“The decision to run the BMW M Hybrid V8 in the IMSA series from 2023, and the WEC from 2024, is a milestone for the project,” said Franciscus van Meel, CEO of BMW M GmbH.
“I sampled and marvelled at the extraordinary flair of the 24 Hours of Le Mans during my first term as CEO of BMW M so I am very excited to be challenging for overall victory as BMW M Motorsport again at this classic and in the whole World Endurance Championship for the first time for decades.
“The BMW M Hybrid V8 represents a turning point towards electrification for BMW M. The IMSA series in North America and the WEC, which takes place all over the world, are the perfect platforms, on which to use our prototype to show how exciting electrified BMW M cars will be in the future.”
