Since its roll-out on 25th July at Varano de‘ Melegari (ITA), the BMW M Hybrid V8 has got important kilometres under its belt during a number of tests at European racetracks. BMW M Motorsport engineers have obtained valuable basic data and sorted out any initial teething troubles. The result is a good basis on which to further intensify preparations of the car in the USA from September, ahead of the start of the season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Daytona (USA) in January 2023.
“The first weeks of testing with the BMW M Hybrid V8 went well,” said Andreas Roos, Head of BMW M Motorsport. “We have completed a lot of kilometres, during which we uncovered the first weaknesses, which are totally normal with a new car, and have solved some of them already. Furthermore, it was important to get feedback from as many drivers as possible, in order to get a good early impression of how our prototype handles. Their response has been very positive in this early stage – everyone is impressed by the potential that our LMDh car is already showing. That will follow in the coming months. We laid a good foundation during the tests in Europe. Now we enter the next development stage in the USA.”
During the previous tests in Italy and Spain, the focus was on system checks and the first performance-related topics. The BMW M Hybrid V8 has been driven in hot and dry conditions, in the rain, and in the dark, when its impressive front and rear lights were seen for the first time. On the whole, there haven’t been any fundamental issues. Teething troubles, which are normal for a new car, have been identified and adapted with a view to the coming tests. So far, BMW M works drivers Connor De Phillippi (USA), Sheldon van der Linde (RSA), Marco Wittmann (GER), Augusto Farfus (BRA), Nick Yelloly (GBR) and Philipp Eng (AUT) have had outings behind the wheel. The BMW Junior Team, consisting of Dan Harper (GBR), Max Hesse (GER) and Neil Verhagen (USA), has also had a taste of LMDh action already, plus newcomer René Rast (GER) has completed a number of laps in the BMW M Hybrid V8.
From September, BMW M Motorsport and BMW M Team RLL will continue the test work at various racetracks in the USA. Performance and reliability will play an increasingly major role, looking ahead to the 24 Hours of Daytona in January 2023. A host of different drivers will be used again during these tests.
On 22nd September, BMW M Motorsport will present the race livery of the BMW M Hybrid V8 at an event at the Peterson Museum in Los Angeles (USA).
Source. BMW
Comments
