Motorsport News

Feature motorsportnews Roving reporters Jeff Heywood & Neil McDonald

BMW off the pace at Sebring…

The pair of BMW Team RLL M8 GTEs finished fourth and fifth in July’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Cadillac Grand Prix of Sebring.

The two M8 GTEs were off the pace all weekend, qualifying in the final two spots in the GTLM class. In the race itself, the tussle for the GTLM class win was contested by the Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs and the Porsche 911 RSRs. The Porsches just had the edge at Sebring but a calamitous collision in the pit lane between both 911’s put paid to the Porsche’s chances of a class win.

At the chequered flag, the two Corvette C8.Rs recorded a one-two for Chevrolet Racing, whilst one of the 911 RSRs, front spoiler held together by gaffer tape, managed to salvage third position. The two BMW M8 GTEs were way off the pace, coming home fourth and fifth in class. A BMW spokesman blamed the result on a “combination of fuel saving and an overall lack of pace.” A ‘lack of pace’ was evident in the race times, with the lead Corvette finishing over a minute ahead of the fourth placed M8 GTE, a country mile in racing terms…

Connor De Phillippi and Bruno Spengler in the #25 M8 GTE finished in fourth place in the GTLM class at July’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Cadillac Grand Prix of Sebring, but in all honesty they were a country mile away from a podium finish, being a minute behind the class winning Corvette C8.R

BMW on the podium at Road America

The #24 M8 GTE piloted by Edwards/Krohn managed to snatch third place on the podium at Road America after a chaotic finish to the race

Just a fortnight after their poor showing at Sebring, one of the BMW M8 GTEs fared much better in the fourth race of this season’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Road America, with a podium finish for the #24 M8 GTE.

Qualifying didn’t promise much, with both cars still struggling for outright pace. The Spengler/de Phillippi #25 M8 GTE finally managed to grab fourth place on the starting grid in the GTLM class, while the #24 M8 GTE of Edwards/Krohn secured fifth for the race start. We must bear in mind though, there are only six cars competing in the GTLM class, so the BMWs qualified fourth and fifth out of six cars. The race was timed to last for 2 hours and 40 minutes and for nearly the first 2 hours, the race was largely uneventful for the M8 GTEs, then a heavy downpour with 40 minutes to go caused the race to be suspended. When the race was given the green flag with roughly seven minutes remaining, Edwards, who had earlier switched to wet tyres on his BMW M8 GTE, led the GTLM field. As the rain intensified, he was initially able to defend his lead. Unfortunately, cars were aquaplaning all over the place, and on the final lap Edwards, like a number of other drivers, slid off the track in his #24 M8 GTE. Whilst this did result in the loss of first place, the American was able to rescue third place and came home behind the two Corvettes to claim the third spot on the podium. The #25 M8 GTE piloted by Spengler/ de Phillippi also restarted brightly, initially running second in class and closely following the leading #25 M8 GTE; unfortunately their car suffered a mechanical issue shortly before the end of the race, which dropped them down to a sixth place finish in class.