BMW Team RLL will run a reduced programme in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship 2021.
The rumours have been around for several month, but BMW has not really wanted to say anything until now, just a few days ahead of the season opener at Daytona.
The team will enter two BMW M8 GTE cars in the Michelin Endurance Cup, which are the four endurance rounds of the year, including Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and Petit Le Mans.
The driving crew for the season opener in car #24 will be Jesse Krohn and John Edwards, joined by Augusto Farfus and Marco Wittmann. Krohn, Edwards and Farfus won the 24 hours race last year, where they were joined by Chaz Mostert. Mostert can’t however leave Australia due to their COVID-19 regulations, preventing him to travel to the USA. Wittmann previously raced at Daytona in 2016, where he helped Turner Motorsport with their M6 GT3 car.
Photo Courtesy of IMSA / Barry Cantrell
Car #25 will have Connor De Phillippi and Bruno Spengler as the base once again, while Philipp Eng and Timo Glock will help out. Eng was part of the crew last year, plus he was helping them with the Daytona win in 2019. This will be the first time in Daytona for Glock, just as it will be his first race in the M8 GTE. He has mainly focused on DTM until now, with a few races in the M6 GT3 too.
Glock will replace Colton Herta in the #25, but he will stay within the BMW family.
He will race alongside Bill Auberlen, Robby Foley and Aidan Read at Turner Motorsport in the GTD category. Auberlen and Foley will be the full season drivers, for both the sprint and endurance rounds in IMSA.
BMW hasn’t announced which of the eight drivers, are going to do the rest of the season, but it’s expected to be a one-off for Witmann and Glock at Daytona, since that is the only race with four drivers on each car.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season starts this Friday, with one and a half day of testing, before qualifying on Saturday afternoon local time, and a qualifying race for the 24 hours race on Sunday afternoon, local Florida time. The Rolex 24 at Daytona will run on 30-31 January.
