BMW teams Paul Miller Racing and BMW M Team RLL both participated in an official IMSA-sanctioned test held at Daytona International Speedway this past weekend. The test drew a total of 31 cars, which allowed teams to try out new updates to their cars and new drivers and give GT teams their first running with the torque sensors that will be required in the GTD Pro and GTD classes in 2025.
BMW M Team RLL brought both M Hybrid V8 prototypes to Daytona along with drivers Philipp Eng, Marco Wittmann, Robin Frijns, and Max Hesse. Eng has driven for RLL for the last two seasons in the IMSA competition. Marco Wittmann and Robin Frijns drove the M Hybrid V8 for BMW M Team WRT in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship season, and Wittmann previously drove the car for RLL at Daytona and Sebring in 2023. Max Hesse had previously tested the WRT car, but this was his first time testing it with the RLL team.
Paul Miller Racing was also present at Daytona for the new M4 GT3 Evo’s first official test. Drivers Madison Snow and Neil Verhagen were on hand to drive the car. Snow has been with the team for years and has driven the M4 GT3 for the team since their first race at Sebring in 2023. Verhagen joined the team as a third driver in the longer Michelin Endurance Cup races in 2024.
According to a story on the Sportscar365.com website, BMW M Team RLL was primarily focused on testing updates to the drivability and the brakes on the M Hybrid V8s. The BMWs were second and third quickest in the GTP class in each of the first three sessions, but that’s not indicative of their true pace versus the others since it was just a test session. “As far as I saw, the lap times look good at the sanctioned test, but you never know what everybody is doing because, in the end, you concentrate on your own; you have your test program,” said the head of BMW M Motorsport Andreas Roos to Sportscar365.com. “We were focusing a lot on our test points and had quite an intense test program of what we wanted to go through, especially to work on long runs and long-run performance.”
Paul Miller Racing was getting their first experience with the M4 GT3 Evo, as well as their first experience with the torque sensors that will be required on the GTD Pro and GTD class cars in 2025. They have already been in use on the GTP prototypes since their introduction in 2023. They are used to measure torque figures from the engine and (hopefully) result in a more level playing field with the balance of performance decisions made throughout the season.
BMW M Team RLL and Paul Miller Racing have yet to announce their driver lineups for the 2025 season. We may see more factory drivers in the Paul Miller Racing GTD Pro program since they’ll be running two M4 GT3s in the GTD Pro class next year after running a single car in previous years. Turner Motorsport is expected to return to the GTD class in 2025 with the M4 GT3 Evo but was not present at the test. The next official IMSA test is the “Roar Before the 24” at Daytona on January 17th-19th. —David Haueter
[Photos courtesy LAT Images]
