IMSA - BMW wants to "to battle for its first victory" in GTP at Watkins Glen

Acura at Daytona, Cadillac at Sebring and Laguna Seca and Porsche at Long Beach, after four rounds BMW is the only GTP manufacturer yet to taste the joys of victory. That's not to say, however, that the start to the season has been bad, as the M Hybrid V8 has already scored two second places thanks to the Connor de Philippi / Nick Yelloly duo.

➡️ On the same topic : IMSA - 6 Hours of Watkins Glen Guide

Slightly behind the competition, with a first drive on 25 July 2022, the Bavarian car appeared to lag slightly behind in terms of pure performance at the start of the season. But after the Bavarian engineers had completely rewritten the software codes of the car, the latter took a convincing second place at Long Beach, to which De Philippi added the best race lap.

"The fastest race lap showed the great effort by the entire team over the last few weeks and the progress that has been made" Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport) said. "At Long Beach, we were able to fight for the win. That shows how good our cars are."

And if the Laguna Seca round didn't turn out as well for them, Connor de Philippi had this to say before Watkins-Glen: "We have what it takes to battle for our first victory. Watkins Glen is one of my top favorites on our IMSA calendar. The combination of speed and grip allows us to really unleash the potential of these GTP cars. With that said, it’s typically the hottest and most physical track on the schedule, so all of us will need to bring our A-game for the six hour event."

Philipp Eng, who shares the #24 car with Augusto Farfus, is also optimistic after two days of testing involving all the drivers concerned: "We were there recently for testing, and we’re on a very good path. The car felt great, and driving the BMW M Hybrid V8 on this track is incredibly enjoyable. ".

The RLL team has so far scored six class podiums at the 6 Hours of Watkins-Glen, including a victory in 2017. "It is one of those historic challenging circuits that separates the men from the boys" Bobby Rahal said. The perfect opportunity for the M Hybrid V8 to make its entry into the big leagues...