BMW “approached” by other teams to run factory IMSA LMDh programme

BMW has revealed that it has been “approached” by several teams interested in running its factory LMDh programme in the IMSA SportsCar Championship next year.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan has represented BMW in factory competition since 2009 and was also chosen as the marque' official partner on its entry into IMSA’s GTP division in 2023.

However, ahead of this weekend’s Imola round of the World Endurance Championship, rumours have been swirling about RLL potentially being replaced by another outfit in IMSA in 2026.

Chip Ganassi Racing and Pratt Miller Racing are just two of the teams that have been linked to entering the BMW M Hybrid V8 in IMSA next season.

Now, BMW has responded to speculation about its IMSA future, stressing that it is still talking to RLL about continuing their partnership in GTP next year.

However, the German marque also revealed that other teams have initiated contact to discuss the possibility of taking over the operational side of the programme.

“This is the normal process we are in at the moment,” BMW’s motorsport boss Andreas Roos told Crash.net.

“Everything starts now a bit earlier. In the past, all these discussions started after Le Mans. Now as everything gets more and more competitive and more manufacturers come into the discussions, we start earlier.

“We are in the normal process, we are talking to RLL. We are talking about how our future model could look like and discuss about this.

“I'm not worried about these topics. It's just a normal topic. It's the same like with drivers now talking to us, and now we have teams talking to us, and for sure we also talk to RLL.”

Asked to confirm if BMW has been talking to other teams in IMSA, Roos added: "We normally get approached when you have cars running. For sure, you get also approached from other teams.”

The RLL-run BMW team has so far achieved two outright victories in IMSA, with a maiden win at Watkins Glen in 2023 followed by a 1-2 result in Indianapolis last year.

BMW has also been contesting WEC’s Hypercar category since 2024, but that two-car effort is masterminded by Belgian squad WRT.