BMW reaffirms long-term LMDh commitment amid IMSA uncertainty

BMW has reaffirmed its long-term commitment to its LMDh programme, dispelling doubts about its future in the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the German manufacturer said it will continue to race the M Hybrid V8 LMDh in both the World Endurance Championship and IMSA’s top series “in the years to come”.

BMW had previously stopped short of committing to IMSA beyond 2025, after revealing in July that its long-standing partnership with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) will come to an end after this season.

Speculation had also mounted that BMW might scale back its IMSA involvement to just the five-race Michelin Endurance Cup, instead of contesting the full championship.

While Thursday’s announcement did not clarify the extent of BMW’s future IMSA programme, the manufacturer did confirm that a new partner team for its factory GTP effort will be announced “at a later date.”

Team WRT, which is responsible for running its works cars in WEC’s Hypercar division, is primed to take over the role from RLL for the 2026 IMSA season.

BMW also stated it remains in discussions with RLL about a possible collaboration in other areas. The two parties have enjoyed a fruitful relationship since 2009.

“I am very pleased that we will continue our successful Hypercar programme long-term in both the FIA WEC and the IMSA series,” said BMW motorsport chief Andreas Roos.

“Over the past years, we’ve learned a great deal about our BMW M Hybrid V8, made significant progress, and established ourselves among the front-runners in both championships. Accordingly, I look to the future with great anticipation and optimism, especially since the extended homologation period provides us with a high level of planning security.

“As part of our future planning, we have decided to pursue our goals with a revised setup and not extend the contract with BMW M Team RLL for race operations in the IMSA series. I want to thank Bobby Rahal and his team for 17 fantastic years. Their loyalty to our brand over such a long period is exceptional. 

"Since 2009, the team has achieved titles and victories across many generations of our race cars and has played a crucial role in building BMW M Motorsport’s strong fanbase in North America.

“Together, we made the bold move from GT racing to the GTP class for the 2023 season and celebrated several successes there. Even though our joint IMSA racing programme is ending, we are very interested in continuing to count on BMW M Team RLL as a strong partner in North America in other areas. Discussions in this regard are ongoing. The same applies to our new IMSA race team, which we will announce in due course.”