BMW M Motorsport Optimistic About Hypercar Pace Despite Spa Setbacks
BMW M Motorsport’s Andreas Roos expressed optimism about the pace of their Hypercar entries, despite a disappointing 11th and 13th place finish in the Spa 6 Hours. According to Roos, the German manufacturer has made significant strides in terms of pure pace, with their BMW LMDh contender showing promising speed, particularly in the fast sectors of the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
“We did some good lap times, and when you look at the screens, our cars are fastest in the first sector and fastest in the last sector,” Roos told Autosport.
This is crucial as the FIA WEC calendar heads towards the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours next month, with sectors 1 and 2 at the Belgian circuit closely replicating the Circuit de la Sarthe.
Roos believes that the pace is there to fight for top positions, citing their strong performance in the first qualifying session where they secured fifth place. “The speed is there to somehow fight for good results,” he said. However, he acknowledges that there’s still work to be done to put everything together, particularly in terms of minimizing mistakes and penalties.
The #20 BMW LMDh shared by Rene Rast, Robin Frijns, and Sheldon van der Linde received two penalties early in the Spa 6 Hours, which significantly impacted their overall performance. Rast was awarded a drive-through for causing a collision with the Jota Porsche, while Frijns received a five-second time penalty for gaining an advantage off-track.
Roos questioned the decision against Rast, asking “Where should Rene go? There was nowhere he could go?” The incident led to a “double penalty” as the #46 WRT BMW M4 GT3, driven by Ahmad Al Harthy, Valentino Rossi, and Maxime Martin, was forced to retire due to the resulting damage.
Meanwhile, the #38 Hypercar entry driven by Raffaele Marciello, Dries Vanthoor, and Marco Wittmann received a 30s stop-go penalty after Marciello engaged reverse gear while overshooting his pit stall.
Despite the setbacks, BMW has shown promise in the WEC 2023 season, scoring a point on their debut in Qatar and following it up with a sixth-place finish at Imola. As the series builds towards the iconic Le Mans 24 Hours, Roos is confident that his team has the pace to contend for top positions, provided they can minimize mistakes and penalties.
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