BMW reveals 2023 M Hybrid V8 LMDh in race livery, confirms IMSA driver lineup

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BMW in June offered a primary have a look at its new M Hybrid V8 LMDh race automobile, and on Thursday the automaker revealed the livery the automobile will sport for its inaugural season.

The livery was revealed late on Thursday on the automobile’s U.S. debut on the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles. BMW additionally used the occasion to substantiate its driver lineup.

The livery is dominated by the stylized “M” of the BMW M division which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this yr. There are additionally splashes of blue and purple, which BMW stated signifies the electrical element of the automobile’s powertrain. And unusually for a race automobile, the black areas are literally the automobile’s unpainted carbon fiber, a transfer BMW stated helped scale back weight of the livery by round 25% in comparison with a conventional full wrap.

2023 BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh race car

2023 BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh race automobile

The M Hybrid V8 begins racing in 2023, initially within the IMSA SportsCar Championship solely however then additionally within the FIA World Endurance Championship from 2024. It’s going to compete within the new GTP class within the SportsCar Championship, which is open to each LMDh and LMH vehicles. The comparable class within the World Endurance Championship is Hypercar. Steadiness of Efficiency guidelines can be used to make sure a fair taking part in discipline between the 2 race automobile varieties.

The M Hybrid V8 makes use of a chassis sourced from Italy’s Dallara, certainly one of 4 corporations supplying chassis for the class. The automobile might want to tip the scales at a minimal 2,270 lb, and its powertrain, a hybrid setup utilizing a modified twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 from a former DTM racing program, can generate at any time a most output of round 670 hp. The electrical element consists of a single motor mated with the V-8, with a separator clutch enabling the automobile to drive on electrical energy alone, which might be used within the pit lane, for instance.

BMW M will run its LMDh marketing campaign with America’s Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, below the BMW Staff RLL banner and with RLL Racing co-owner Bobby Rahal as crew principal. The present plan is to discipline two vehicles within the SportsCar Championship.

2023 BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh race car's engine

2023 BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh race automobile’s engine

Confirmed drivers embrace Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly in a single automobile and Philipp Eng and Augusto Farfus within the different. The vehicles will race below the numbers 24 and 25.

The primary race would be the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona subsequent January. The race is the opening spherical of the 2023 SportsCar Championship, and the primary for LMDh.

Acura, Alpine, Cadillac, and Porsche are additionally dedicated to LMDh, whereas ByKolles, Ferrari, Glickenhaus, Peugeot, and Toyota are all dedicated to LMH. Audi was additionally set to hitch LMDh in 2023 however in August introduced it had canceled the hassle to focus assets on a deliberate System 1 entry in 2026. Lamborghini can be dedicated to LMDh however will solely be part of the fray in 2024.

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