The BMW M Hybrid V8 is similar to the old Class 1 DTM cars from the German championship in terms of driving style, Sheldon van der Linde and Philipp Eng told MotorsportWeek.com.
“I’m lucky enough to have driven the BMW DTM Class 1 car in 2019 and 2020, which is really helped my driving style in this carl, because I feel like those cars are very similar in driving style, – that car even had a bit more downforce. It’s always nice to kind of come from the top and work your way down indownforce levels, as opposed to opposite way,” van der Linde said.
He added, “I think the Class 1 experience also helped them select me for this programme in the first place.”
The Class 1 DTM cars were retired from competition after 2020, as manufacturers, including Audi and Mercedes, left the series to concentrate on other efforts. This left BMW as the only remaining manufacturer, so with the death of Class 1, the series switched to GT3 machinery for 2021 and beyond.
Meanwhile, the South African’s BMW teammate both in DTM and now in IMSA, Philipp Eng, “The car is similar to the old Class 1 DTM car from the past, in terms of downforce and weight,” Eng said, indicating that this had helped him adapt to the M Hybrid V8’s driving style.
In terms of the hybrid unit in the prototype car, Eng also said he was drawing on past experience. “Well, I think I have a slight advantage, because I was test and reserve driver for a BMW in Formula E. I drove the simulator a lot.I had a lot of time to talk to the engineers about how all the systems work,” said the Austrian.
“And to be fair, I’ve learned quite a lot there about regen and how brake by wire works. So this definitely helps me here, even though it’s a hybrid car. But some systems, you know, they have a slight crossover,” he continued.
