BMW always knew Dries Vanthoor would be rapid in an LMDh prototype

BMW says it was convinced of Dries Vanthoor’s potential in LMDh machinery before he had even joined its Hypercar programme in the World Endurance Championship.

Vanthoor stepped up to WEC’s top class in 2024 with BMW after a formidable stint in GT racing that saw him score two outright victories in the Nurburgring 24 Hours, three consecutive titles in GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup and a class win at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The Belgian has gelled well with the Dallara-based BMW M Hybrid V8, topping the first qualifying at Le Mans last year and propelling the car to podiums at Fuji in 2024 and Imola in 2025.

He also scored three consecutive pole positions in the IMSA SportsCar Championship this year in an impressive display of his one-lap pace.

But BMW motorsport boss Andreas Roos says he is not surprised to see Vanthoor carry on his GT racing form into LMDh, having followed his career from its early days.

Roos cited Vanthoor’s rapid adaptation to the Oreca 07 in 2022, which included a class victory in his second WEC LMP2 appearance at Fuji WEC, as proof that he was always going to do well in a top-of-the-line prototype.

“When you follow a bit what Dries Vanthoor was doing in the past. It was not the first time he was sitting in a prototype with BMW,” Roos told Crash.net.

“He already had some experience in LMP2 cars; he raced Le Mans already in an LMP2 car, he raced Fuji in an LMP2 car.

“And when you look already there what he was able to do, just jumping in for some single races, you could already see that he is not only quick in a GT car, that he will also be quick in a prototype car.

“In the end, he proved to be a super quick driver and we are super happy. We can clearly say with the eight drivers that are in our hypercar programme, they are all super quick, they get along very well together.

“This is also a big part of being successful - that there is a very good spirit and all drivers are more or less on the same level and I think from BMW's side we can be super happy with our very strong driver line-up.”

While Vanthoor has played a leading role in BMW becoming a genuine frontrunner in both the WEC and IMSA in the last six-eight months, the 27-year-old has also made his fair share of errors in recent races.

At the season-opening Daytona 24 Hours, Vanthoor held the lead from pole position in the early stages of the race, only to misjudge his approach into the pit box in the second hour.

In the 12 Hours of Sebring, he was hit with a drive-through penalty for changing his lane before the start/finish line.

Vanthoor can be very hard on himself for making unforced errors, similar to how McLaren driver Lando Norris is very self-critical in Formula 1.

Asked what advice he gives to the 27-year-old in such situations, Roos said: “He is for sure very hard with himself.

“At the end, it's racing and he is fighting for top results and he wants to win races like we want to win races.

“You can never say about Dries that he didn't give everything that he could do to make this happen.

“For sure, we also discussed when something like this happened. You don't have to tell Dries because he takes the job very very seriously.

“He knows himself what went wrong and what went good and the most important thing is we learn out of mistakes and make it better next time.”

Also read: How BMW turned around its LMDh programme in WEC and IMSA