WEC: No LMP1 for BMW, but Garage 56 a possibility

A round table discussion between media representatives and BMW Motorsport boss Jens Marquardt at the Spa 24 Hours covered a range of current, potential future, and rejected future options for BMW’s motorsport programs.

The first question was on the subject of LMP1, media reports from Germany have made it clear that BMW has been evaluating a potential factory program. Marquardt (BELOW), though, was clear that, as the current rules stand, there is no immediate prospect of that happening.

“The regulations in LMP1 are new for 2017 and still it is very much ‘hybrid’. It’s a World Championship and you have key players there that are competing on a super high level. We have said since 2009 that what we do in racing has to reflect what we do in production, that’s why we turned to production like racing more or less with either production based cars like the Z4GT3 or the M235i Racing or ‘lookalikes’ like the M4 in DTM.

“The other thing that would be important for us would be showcasing new technology and, at the moment we see hybrid as a stepping stone to EV (Electric Vehicle). That is the future for BMW, clearly showcased in the i3 and i8 so the current rules set-up does not fulfil our required criteria.

“With all of that said we are really very with where we are with all of our programs – We re really busy with them and with developing our new GT3 car (M6 GT3) and a version raceable in IMSA GTLM alongside it.

“We are working intensively on the IMSA car but it is still not a done thing. There is dialogue with IMSA, ACO and with all of the other competitors. It’s tight!”

And what about Garage 56 – the ACO's special category for showcasing new technology at the Le Mans 24 Hours?

“That would be something that would allow us to demonstrate new technologies – it could allow showcasing of what would be important to us,” Marquardt added. “We’re discussing everything.”

Asked whether having BMW doing a good job with a new technology potentially could be part of a strategy to persuade a change in future LMP1 regulations, Marquardt replied: “If BMW did do something like this, it would be a obviously more than a PR sort of thing.”

Originally on DailySportsCar.com