In terms of qualifying speed, the BMW M Hybrid V8 remains the benchmark in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC) season after three races. Dries Vanthoor (BEL) completed the pole position hat-trick at the street circuit in Long Beach (USA), following Daytona and Sebring (both USA), driving car number 24.
In the race, Vanthoor’s teammate Philipp Eng (AUT) crossed the finish line in third place after 100 minutes, securing the first podium for BMW M Team RLL this season. Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) and Marco Wittmann (GER) finished fifth in the sister car after a strong comeback .
In qualifying, Vanthoor once again shone with an impressive lap time that secured him the pole position. Only van der Linde in the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 could match the pace, finishing second to complete the front row entirely in BMW M Motorsport’s hands. In the race, both BMW M Team RLL cars initially took the lead, but they lost valuable positions during a pit stop in the first yellow phase. Particularly Wittmann, who took over the number 25 from van der Linde, had to fight hard to move up from tenth to fifth place. Eng only had to let the two Porsches at the front go and ultimately drove home a solid third place.
In the GTD class, Turner Motorsport competed with the #96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO. BMW M works driver Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher (both USA) finished in fifth place.
Comments after the race:
Andreas Roos, Head of BMW M Motorsport: “The third pole position in the third race of the season for Dries Vanthoor and the complete front row in BMW M Motorsport’s hands – that was fantastic. We have the speed, but unfortunately, we were not completely error-free in the race, which cost us the chance of winning. We lost valuable positions during the pit stops. Nevertheless, the first podium of the season for Dries Vanthoor and Philipp Eng is a success we can build on. The comeback by Marco Wittmann and Sheldon van der Linde after losing time during the pit stop was strong. Now we need to work even harder to convert our pace into the first win of the season next time.”
Philipp Eng (#24 BMW M Hybrid V8, BMW M Team RLL, 3rd place): “Starting from the first and second positions, this is obviously not the result we had hoped for. Unfortunately, we had a small issue during the pit stop, which caused us to fall behind the two Porsches. If we had stayed ahead, I think we could have kept them behind us. It’s still a podium, but it’s a pity because more was possible. Nevertheless, we are on the right track, and we will come back stronger in Laguna Seca.”
Marco Wittmann (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8, BMW M Team RLL, 5th place): “Even though I managed a good comeback to fifth place, the disappointment prevails after this result. We were in first and second place in all practices and qualifying, so you naturally expect more than third and fifth places in the race. We made a strategic mistake with the timing of our pit stop during the yellow phase with our number 25, which almost threw us to the back of the GTP field. We need to learn from this and convert the strong pace that the BMW M Hybrid V8 has into top results next time.”
