BMW M Motorsport has announced two more drivers for their upcoming GTP programme in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Sheldon van der Linde and Marco Wittmann will be the third drivers on the two brand new BMW M Hybrid V8 cars, which will run at the 24 Hours of Daytona in January, and at the 12 Hours of Sebring in March. It’s not yet announced who will race in cars #24 and #25 respectively.
Full-season pairings Connor Di Phillippi and Nick Yelloly in one car, and Augusto Farfus and Philipp Eng in the other car, were announced a few weeks ago.
Colton Herta will be another addition at Daytona. It’s not yet announced, what car crew he will join.
Photo Courtesy of IMSA / Michael L. Levitt
The first collective test was held earlier this week, with BMW, Acura and Cadillac testing at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Porsche was meant to participate as well, but they opted to test for themselves at Sebring instead.
The brand new GTP category replaces the DPi category in IMSA, which is the American version of the FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar category. The rules are written, so the “European” Hypercars can participate in IMSA too. At the moment, it doesn’t appear to be from the start of the 2023 IMSA season, that we will see Toyota Gazoo racing or Ferrari in the USA. Glickenhaus Racing are not allowed to run in IMSA for now, since they don’t produce enough cars on a yearly basis.
All cars will be present at Sebring in March, where the FIA WEC will host their opening round of 2023 – but without Acura and BMW, since they are focusing on IMSA only for 2023.
Rolex 24 at Daytona køres den 28.-29. januar 2023.
