BMW has announced that it will enter the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2018, alongside the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. It will also offer a BMW M4 GT4 as the company seeks to explore exciting opportunities in GT racing.
The announcements came within a wide-ranging brief which outlines BMW’s strategic realignment of its motorsport activities. The company will maintain a focus on sustainability with a commitment to working with the Andretti Formula E team. Classic motorsport will also form part of the company’s motorsport activities.
Kraus Fröhlich, Member of the Board of management of BMW AG, commented:
“On the production-based racing scene, we will be represented with BMW M in the global WEC series in the future, as well as the DTM and the IWSC. Our commitments complement each other perfectly: we are going head to head with our most important global competitors, whether through our works commitments or customer racing. In short: The future strategy is excellently suited to the BMW group. Bring on the future.”
Jens Marquardt, BMW Motorsport Director, sees great opportunities for BMW in international motorsport.
“It is fantastic that the BMW Group will be even more broadly positioned and represented in all relevant areas in the future,” said Marquardt. “Starting with the 2018 season, we want to further expand our activities in GT racing and compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship, as well as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. This obviously also includes our return to Le Mans, which we are particularly looking forward to. The way the WEC has developed so well makes us confident that there is a big future for GT racing.”
“This is also the motivation behind our further expansion in the customer racing sector. Our range has already been spearheaded by a successful representative, in the form of the BMW M6 GT3. As of 2018, we will also be excellently represented by the BMW M4 GT4 in the GT4 class, which is also experiencing something of a boom.”
The announcement makes for a mouth-watering entry list for the 2018 24 Hours of Le mans, with the Ford GT fully developed and both Porsche, Ferrari and Chevrolet having formidable GTE offerings.
