New BMW GTE Car for 2018/19 Racing Season

The BMW M6 GTLM racing car debuted months ago and it is competing now at the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. A new report from Sportscars365 today says that the German Automaker is already looking ahead to the next racing season. Rumor has it that they’re already planning a car to meet full GTE regulations. We may see this car as early as the 2018 FIA World Endurance Championship if everything goes well in the development.

In an interview with Sportscar365, BMW Motorsport director Jens Marquardt said that there are multiple programs under review by BMW as of the moment. The stakeholders have yet to decide how exactly they would create cars that fit global regulations. Right now, the 2016 BMW M6 GTLM is only legal for competition in the IMSA championship.

“The GTLM car was a result [rather] than a desire,” Marquardt told Sportscar365. “We had to do this solution that we see now. It wasn’t intended from the get-go. So we’ll have to clearly think about how we attack it in the future. Obviously the U.S. is such an important market that for sure we’ll have a consistent program over here. But having a “solitaire” car with the DTM car already, I think we should try and avoid solitaires and have more platforms that are more widespread.”

If an FIA/ACO-homologated GTE car will be created, it would allow for BMW to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans again since their last race in 2011. “It obviously gives you opportunities,” he said of the GTE platform. “We’ve always been big fans of doing cars that give you multiple opportunities. For sure, WEC, as a platform has nicely developed over the years. It has been newly established and it has proceeded nicely. Looking at the spectator figures in Le Mans this year again and the TV coverage getting better and better, the platform is developing nicely.”

Whatever the decision is, we’ll find out more as the next racing season approaches. Stay tuned!