Jeff Seabrook

Elkhart Lake. The third-to-last race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA series) at Road America (USA) was disappointing for BMW M Team RLL. Both BMW M Hybrid V8 cars retired prematurely in the 2-hour and 40-minute-long race. Connor De Phillippi (USA) had an early collision with the wall in the #25 car, forcing him to retire. Philipp Eng (AUT) had to park the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 after 55 laps due to technical issues. In the GTD class, Paul Miller Racing celebrated their fourth season victory and extended their lead in the overall standings.

After their retirements, the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 driven by Eng and Augusto Farfus (BRA) and the #25 car driven by De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly (GBR) were classified in ninth and tenth positions in the GTP class. As a result, De Phillippi and Yelloly lost their second place in the overall standings, which they held after a victory and three other podium finishes this season. In the GTD class, Madison Snow and Bryan Sellers (both USA) drove to a dominant victory. Bill Auberlen and Chandler Hull (both USA) finished sixth in the #97 BMW M4 GT3 of Turner Motorsport, while their teammates Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher (both USA) ran out of fuel in the final lap and were classified twelfth.

The penultimate GTP race of the season will take place on 17^th September in Indianapolis (USA). The GTD class will compete at the VIRginia International Raceway (USA) on 27^th August before that.

Quotes after the race:

Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “That was a very disappointing race for BMW M Team RLL and BMW M Motorsport. Losing the car shortly after the start, which was in second place in the championship, is tough. The GTP prototypes are particularly challenging to drive on cold tyres, as we have seen throughout the season. Such things can happen, even though it's very frustrating. That's racing. The #24 car had an issue with its electronics. We still need to analyse exactly what happened. Although we are all disappointed today, we will work hard from tomorrow onwards to get back to our proven strength at the next race in Indianapolis. We had a good test there and are accordingly confident. My heartfelt congratulations go to Paul Miller Racing for the victory in the GTD class. The team impressively demonstrates how strong our BMW M4 GT3 is on North American racetracks.”

Philipp Eng (#24 BMW M Hybrid V8, DNF): “Compared to qualifying, we had a much better pace in the race, and I held the fastest lap for a long time in the first half of the race. Unfortunately, I had a minor collision with a Porsche that cost me a lot of time; otherwise, we could have been much further ahead. As for the issue with the electronics, we'll have to investigate further. I'm not sure if it was a result of the collision, but we will find out.”

Connor De Phillippi (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8, DNF): “In the formation lap, unfortunately, I spun while trying to warm up the cold tyres and ended up in the gravel. The marshals pulled me out, and I was able to continue. It seems that the action significantly altered the balance of my car, which I didn't notice at first. It was only when I had overtaken all the GTD vehicles and went through 'The Kink' at full speed for the first time that I suddenly lost the rear of the car and hit the wall. Fortunately, I'm okay, but I feel really sorry for the entire team. However, I'm confident that we will come out stronger from this experience.”

Madison Snow (#1 BMW M4 GT3, Paul Miller Racing, 1^st place GTD class):

“We came out of the gate very strong. The BMW was handling as good as it gets in qualifying. Once I had the GTD PRO class cars get past me I focused on getting a gap and staying out front.”

Bryan Sellers (#1 BMW M4 GT3, Paul Miller Racing, 1^st place GTD class):

“This weekend a large challenge was the newly resurfaced race track. After qualifying, we felt that we should not ask too much or push so hard that we would put ourselves in a position where the track had less grip. There was a lot of time to be lost in traffic and careful management was important.”

Nürburgring. The infamous weather in the Eifel region struck once again, catching the BMW M Motorsport teams out during the DTM race weekend at the Nürburgring (GER). On Sunday in particular, the BMW M4 GT3 was unable to make the most of its great pace as the Schubert Motorsport and Project 1 teams picked the wrong tyre strategy in extremely challenging weather conditions. Sheldon van der Linde (RSA), Marco Wittmann and René Rast (both GER) started on slicks with the track drying out, only for the rain to return a few laps in and send the trio tumbling down the order. Wittmann and van der Linde had scored some points on Saturday.

The BMW M Motorsport teams decided to risk it all on Sunday when it looked like the track was drying out at the start of the race, prompting van der Linde and Rast to put on slicks. Wittmann followed suit after the first of two warm-up laps, while the remainder of the field started on wet-weather tyres. The three BMW M works drivers initially fell back on the moist surface, but were able to progress as conditions improved.

Had the weather held until the pit-stop window opened 20 minutes into the race, the tyre gamble may have paid off. However, the strategy was torpedoed by a rain shower after about a quarter of an hour. During the laps preceding the regular pit stop, the BMW trio lost so much time that a points finish was now out of reach. Wittmann finished 16th, with van der Linde and Rast in 17th and 19th positions. On his debut DTM weekend, Sandro Holzem (GER) was the best-placed BMW driver in 15th position, a result that saw him score his first DTM point. The second Project 1 driver had started on wet-weather tyres. This bad luck with the weather was a particularly bitter pill to swallow for van der Linde and Wittmann, as they had qualified in second and fifth respectively.

Wittmann and van der Linde both reached the top ten in Saturday’s race, finishing sixth and seventh. Both drivers gave great chasing performances after struggling in qualifying. Wittmann moved up from tenth on the grid to sixth place, while van der Linde came back even more strongly after starting 15th and was the fastest car in the field at times. Rast finished 20th, directly ahead of Holzem.