Why BMW’S World Endurance & IMSA Return Is Huge News

BMW Powered McLaren’s Le Mans Winner Too

Getting back to BMW, which crowned its previous campaign with that Williams-built V12 LMR’s Le Mans 24 Hour win, beating Toyota, Nissan, Audi, Mercedes, Porsche and others en route. Remember that – the year of the flying Mercedes and Toyota despair?

While its plans remain unclear at this stage, it seems certain that Munich will attack both the World Endurance and US IMSA SportsCar Championships commencing with the 2023 Daytona 24 Hour.

No stranger to endurance racing the Munich carmaker’s Le Mans history goes back to 1939, when a BMW 328 won its class en route to fifth overall. BMWs the likes of the 3.0 CSL (and 3.5 CSL ‘Batmobiles’ and the M1 regularly featured at the Sarthe classic, highlighted by a BMW V12 powering the 1995 race winning McLaren F1 GTR. That car also won the Global GT Series in 1995 and ‘96.

BMW then ran its own Le Mans sports car program from 1998 with the V12 LM and followed that up with that V12 LMR victory. It has more recently competed in the Le Mans GT classes, most recently with the M6. Over in the US, BMWs have won 24 Hours of Daytona five times, overall in 1976 with a 3.0 CSL, and powering Ganassi’s Riley chassis in 2011 and 2013, and class wins in 2019 and 2020. And the IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring in 1999.

It won three American Le Mans Series GT Team titles in 2001, 2010, and 2011 and BMW has also won Spa 24 Hours won 21 times and 19 Nürburgring 24 Hour races too.

BMW Will be in the Thick of It Again!

Now BMW is back into sportscar racing from 2023. One thing seems sure though. It will not have it its own way with competition from not just its native German rivals, but from the best in the business from across the planet too. World Endurance racing has never had it so good – and BMW will be in the thick of it again!

Images: BMW, IMSA

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