The BMW teams in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC) and Michelin Pilot Challenge series headed to the Road America circuit in Wisconsin this past weekend, and while the BMWs showed good pace and were running up front at times, it was ultimately a disappointing weekend for most of them.
IMSA held a six-hour race at Road America for the first time this year, as the event is now part of the group of longer Endurance Cup races that also include Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta. It replaced the Indianapolis race on the Endurance Cup schedule, with the race at Indy now a shorter two hour and forty-minute race.
Most of the BMWs in the various classes performed well in qualifying. Sheldon van der Linde put the #24 M Hybrid V8 into third on the GTP class grid with a 1:49.597 lap that was less than four-tenths of a second off the pole of the #93 Acura. Marco Wittmann qualified down in tenth in GTP with a 1:50.920. In GTD Pro, Neil Verhagen qualified second in the #1 Paul Miller Racing M4 GT3 EVO, and Patrick Gallagher qualified fifth in GTD in the #96 Turner Motorsport M4 GT3 EVO.
Sheldon van der Linde, and Dries Vanthoor had to retire with brake issues.
BMW M Team WRT ran the two GTP cars on different strategies, but both cars were leading the race at times and showed good pace. It all went downhill for the #25 car of Wittmann and Philipp Eng when they had to serve three drive-through penalties and then had cooling-related issues with the cars energy recovery system. Dries Vanthoor and Sheldon van der Linde, who were driving the #24 car in Spider Man livery to promote the new movie, looked to be in contention for a podium finish but Vanthoor lost positions when he went off course briefly going into turn one while battling for position. The car later suffered brake issues and was forced to retire. The GTP class was won by the #10 Cadillac.
The Road America result in the GTP class was especially aggravating since the cars were showing strong performance when they were running. “Our disappointment is huge,” said Head of BMW M Motorsport Andreas Roos. “It’s always very frustrating when you drop out or fall back due to technical issues. But it’s even more bitter when you’ve shown such strong pace all weekend and had a good chance to fight for victory. I feel sorry for everyone involved, who are working very hard but are not being rewarded with the corresponding results in the IMSA Series this year. The BMW M Hybrid V8 has proven to be very reliable this season. That’s why we need to take a close look at what caused the problems. We still have two races left – and we are determined to turn things around and secure at least one win. The whole crew deserves that.”
Paul Miller Racing lost ground in the championship after finishing 11th in GTD Pro.
Paul Miller Racing also had a very disappointing race after qualifying second and running up front in GTD Pro. Neil Verhagen was forced to go off track to avoid spinning LMP2 cars after a restart, then Connor De Phillippi later went off track into the tire wall after driving the car up into fourth position. The crew got the car back out but lost several laps and ultimately finished eleventh in class. The GTD Pro win went to the #9 Lamborghini. There was speculation at Road America that Paul Miller Racing wouldn’t return to IMSA competition next year or may close their race program completely, as reported on Sportscar365.com.
Turner Motorsport had a solid fifth place finish in GTD.
Turner Motorsport had the best finish of any of the BMWs at Road America. The trio of Robby Foley, Patrick Gallagher and Francis Selldorff consistently ran in the top five in the GTD class and finished in fifth, with the class win going to the #57 Mercedes-AMG. “We wound up P5 here at Road America, which is a really solid points day for us,” said Foley. “The top few cars in the championship are now within tiny, tiny, tiny margins, so that’s awesome. There was a lot of craziness out there. I restarted in P2 and immediately got hit, basically right at the green, and shuffled back a couple spots and just stayed there for the rest of the race. We avoided a lot of the crazy driving, and we’ll take the pretty good points to VIR in a couple of weeks.”
Michelin Pilot Challenge
The BMW teams participating in the Michelin Pilot Challenge series also had a so-so race amid changing weather conditions. The best finishing BMW was the #37 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing M4 GT4 EVO of Steve Wetterau and Cameron Shields, which finished in sixth. They were followed in seventh by the #95 Turner Motorsport BMW of Dillon Machavern and Luca Mars. The race win went to the #66 Aston Martin.
Steve Wetterau and Cameron Shields were the top-finishing BMW in Michelin Pilot Challenge in sixth.
The seventh-place finish by Machavern and Mars actually moved them up in the championship points, as they finished ahead of other championship contenders. “The guys gave me a great car; it was super-fast,” said Mars. “Everything was good, but I made a mistake in pit lane that kind of hurt our chances at a win and set us back, but we were able to recover into seventh. There were a lot of cautions and bumping and banging going on, so I’m glad we were able to survive out there. Huge thank you to the team for giving me a fast car and doing well in the pit stops.”
Dillon Machavern and Luca Mars finished seventh but gained some in the points.
The only other BMW to finish in the top fifteen at Road America was the #38 ST Racing by Random Vandals M4 GT4 EVO of Bill Auberlen and Samantha Tan.
The next race for both the IWSC and Michelin Pilot Challenge is at VIR on the weekend of August 21st-23rd. That IWSC race will be for GTD Pro and GTD cars only. The GTP class returns to action on September 18th-20th at Indianapolis.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy LAT Images]
