BMW weighing up third Le Mans entry for IMSA car

After Wayne Taylor Racing, Action Express and Proton Competition confirmed to RACER last month they will put in requests for Hypercar entries at Le Mans with their IMSA GTP cars (joining Porsche Penske Motorsport's third 963 earned via winning the IMSA GTP title), a question mark over a potential third BMW remains.

Previously, BMW's U.S. service provider – Rahal Letterman Lanigan – has always stayed stateside and forgone the opportunity to take cars to France throughout its stint in GTLM and during the 2024 season once Team WRT debuted the M Hybrid V8 in Hypercar.

But things are looking up for the Bavarian brand's top-class program with the M Hybrid V8 on both sides of the Atlantic as we get into the meat of the 2025 season.

More Le Mans/WEC

The RACER Mailbag, April 29

Vanthoor addresses future with Porsche

McLaren names its forthcoming Hypercar the MCL-HY

An uptick in form for WRT in the second half of 2024 in WEC, a breakthrough run at Daytona from RLL this year and the introduction of a first 'Joker' update focused on braking performance have combined to raise expectations for the project going forward.

So will we see BMW go down the same route as Cadillac, Porsche and Ferrari (which benefits from a third AF Corse-run 499P in the WEC) in 2025, and apply for an additional car at La Sarthe?

Speaking with RACER, BMW M Motorsport boss Andreas Roos made it clear that while BMW is considering expanding its Hypercar effort for the French classic, financially it needs to make sense to get sign-off.

"It's always nice to have more cars on the grid, but you have to get it financed," he explained. "We always look into it. The more cars we have the better it is but we have to be realistic.

"It's not just having the car on the grid, the whole package has to come together without hampering yourself. We are always looking into it, but it's not all that easy to have a third car."

It is by no means a certainty that we will see BMW Team RLL travel across the Atlantic for a first appearance in Hypercar. Though the team's head-turning performance at the Rolex 24 Hours last month, in which it took pole, set the race's fastest lap and remained in contention for the overall victory until the final hours, will have surely improved its chances of getting the nod.

Should BMW attempt to take a third car to the Le Mans it would add to the tough decisions to come for the ACO’s Le Mans entry list selection committee. With 62 spaces available and 47 already taken up by the 36 full-season WEC entrants and 11 auto-invite recipients from the ELMS, Asian Le Mans Series and IMSA, there’s precious little room left on the pit lane.

The list of prospective teams is huge, with many key players vying for space on the grid from the IMSA SportsCar Championship and ACO-sanctioned series worldwide. The first version of the 2025 Le Mans 24 Hours entry is expected to be published next week.