► BMW’s new hybrid racer revealed
► Will compete under LMDh rules
► V8 hybrid power
BMW has revealed its new LMDh racer, which will take part in the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar championship. Called the BMW M Hybrid V8, Munich’s latest racecar will follow the same LMDh rules as Porsche’s new racer, not the more complex Hypercar rules pursued by Toyota and Peugeot among others.
Looks good?
As you’d expect, the M Hybrid V8 has an aerodynamically-honed silhouette and looks just as you’d expect a prototype endurance racer to look – but it has a few stylistic links to Munich’s road cars. A couple of huge – but rather handsome kidney grilles – make sure this car looks like a BMW even as a blur down the Mulsanne straight, while the headlights shown also echo the design language of recent BMW cars.
There’s also a Hofmeister kink, though in a graphic behind the real windows. The M Hybrid V8 also has rear lights that look a little like a production BMW.
The ‘50 Jahre’ livery is devoid of sponsors and isn’t final, but it’s likely the 50 Jahre BMW M badges will remain in the car’s final look.
‘The most critical task and the greatest challenge for the design team in the LMDh programme design team was that the prototype must be clearly recognisable as a BMW M Motorsport car,’ said Franciscus van Meel, CEO of BMW M.
‘And I can say this to all the fans, just one look is enough to confirm that the BMW M Hybrid V8 is a BMW. It clearly carries the genes of BMW M. I also love the camouflage livery with its references to the great history of the brand in North America.
Congratulations to the design and aerodynamics departments at BMW M Motorsport and Dallara on their great work. I can hardly wait to see the BMW M Hybrid V8 on the track soon.’
We’ll update this article when we know more.