BMW Sees Mixed Results at Road America

Mixed results for BMW M Motorsport teams at the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Road America, USA. BMW M Team RLL had a tough weekend with its two BMW M Hybrid V8s, while the BMW M4 GT3 teams had reason to celebrate, with Turner Motorsport securing a class victory in the GTD category and Paul Miller Racing finishing second in the GTD PRO category.

Turner Motorsport’s win, achieved by BMW M works driver Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher, ended a victory drought dating back to Mid-Ohio in 2022. This was the first triumph of the current IMSA season for the BMW M4 GT3. Foley and Gallagher, having also secured podiums at Long Beach and Laguna Seca, are now well-placed in the GTD drivers’ standings. Paul Miller Racing’s podium finish, with BMW M works driver Madison Snow and Bryan Sellers, was their first since placing third at the 24 Hours of Daytona earlier this season.

BMW M Team RLL’s BMW M Hybrid V8s did not reach the podium. Philipp Eng and Jesse Krohn, starting from the back after missing qualifying due to an accident, finished seventh. Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly were in contention early on, but Yelloly’s crash into a barrier ended their race. Yelloly was fortunately uninjured.

Unfortunately, the breakthrough we hoped for with our BMW M Hybrid V8 crews did not happen at Road America, and we were unable to translate the good approaches we showed in practice into corresponding results. That is disappointing. The #24 car managed an improvement from the very back of the GTP starting grid to seventh place after missing qualifying. We lost the sister car from a good position due to an accident. I’m glad that nothing happened to Nick Yelloly.

We will continue to work hard to turn things around this season and reward ourselves with good results.

Congratulations to Turner Motorsport on the class win and the first success of a BMW M Motorsport team in the current IMSA season. We were close several times and have achieved podium places with the BMW M4 GT3, but it was only now that we made it to the very top of the podium. Congratulations again to Paul Miller Racing for the second place in the GTD PRO class. I hope we can add more successes in the second half of the season.”

Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport)

A New Partnership for BMW

BMW M Motorsport also announced a new partnership with Champion Ignition, now an Official Partner. The Champion logo will feature on the BMW M Hybrid V8s in the IMSA series and the BMW M4 GT3 driven by René Rast in the DTM.

“We are excited to welcome Champion Ignition as Official Partner of BMW M Motorsport,” said Franciscus van Meel, CEO of BMW M GmbH. “This is a great fit as our brands are united in engineering excellence and technology leadership. We are looking forward to making this a successful collaboration across our motorsport programmes in IMSA and DTM.” Ananth Parameswaran, Vice President and General Manager of Champion Ignition, said: “Growing rapidly in the OE space with a commitment to engineering, technology, and customer satisfaction, Champion has become one of the world’s largest suppliers of OE spark plugs. This partnership will bring together our brand heritage in racing with our OE pedigree to enhance awareness and build excitement around Champion.”