BMW driver Dries Vanthoor believes the German producer must improve its LMDh automobile with a view to be a constant frontrunner within the World Endurance Championship in 2025.
The BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh has achieved restricted success because it made its debut within the IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2023, whereas an growth to the Hypercar class of the WEC this yr has additionally been solely modestly fruitful.
BMW has to this point been reluctant to utilize the so-called evo jokers on the M Hybrid V8, with motorsport boss Andreas Roos ruling out any updates for the foreseeable future at Le Mans 24 Hours in June.
Nonetheless, Vanthoor believes there are some weaknesses which BMW wants to deal with over the winter with a view to make the automobile extra aggressive within the WEC subsequent yr.
“I do suppose it is necessary [to use evo jokers] however we’re utilizing them correctly as we solely have a couple of within the homologation of the automobile,” the Belgian informed Motorsport.com forward to the Fuji race, the place he completed second together with team-mates Marco Wittmann and Raffaele Marciello.
“We simply wish to use them as finest as we are able to. We actually use them for the large facets of our automobile.”
Previous to BMW’s breakthrough end in Japan, the WRT-run manufacturing facility staff had achieved a finest end of sixth on the Imola spherical of the championship in Could.
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Requested if he was assured about usually combating on the entrance subsequent yr if the BMW LMDh remained in its present specification, Vanthoor replied: “No, I do suppose we’d like some upgrades to have the ability to do this and that’s what now we have to work on now.
#15 BMW M Staff WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Dries Vanthoor
Picture by: JEP / Motorsport Photos
“Let’s have a look at which [upgrade] now we have to do first however I do suppose we have to do this.
“The people who find themselves working in these areas along with us as drivers, doing suggestions backwards and forwards, know properly sufficient which areas now we have to enhance on and possibly will go in that space.”
As with different LMDh and LMH producers, BMW is allowed a complete of 5 evo jokers over the preliminary five-year lifespan of the M Hybrid V8.
Not each change made to the automobile counts in direction of an evo joker, and producers aren’t required to reveal the usage of their allocation publicly.
Within the WEC, evo jokers should be utilized for to the rulemakers, the Vehicle Membership de l’Ouest and the FIA, and are allowed at their discretion.
Vanthoor recognized brakes as one space the place BMW must work on over the winter to enhance efficiency in race trim.
“We’ve had fairly some brake points the entire season,” the two-time Nurburgring 24 Hour winner revealed. “It is a massive subject for us, which hurts us loads particularly within the races.
“I feel on one lap in qualifying, you do not actually really feel this challenge as a result of nothing occurs.
#15 BMW M Staff WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann
Picture by: Andreas Beil
“However in the long term it all the time tends to harm us loads. This for certain is the highest three of which we should always do first. Will probably be one among them.”
BMW, nevertheless, maintains that it doesn’t want to make use of any evo jokers with a view to enhance its prospects within the WEC. Its motorsport chief Roos insists that there’s a lot of untapped potential within the M Hybrid V8 that the staff can extract earlier than it may possibly contemplate bringing any updates.
He mentioned: “You see that we nonetheless make progress. Whenever you see the place we have been in Qatar [in March] and the place we at the moment are getting, you clearly see that there’s a lot of potential within the automobile.
“That is what I all the time mentioned when there comes up a subject about jokers. So long as we do not extract the complete potential of the automobile there isn’t a have to take a joker.
“I nonetheless consider now we have potential within the automobile which we nonetheless should get out of it. So long as we are able to do that [there is no need for evo jokers]. We for the time being nonetheless have laborious work to do and we’ll get higher and higher.”
BMW managed to comply with up its podium on the Fuji WEC spherical with a 1-2 end within the six-hour IMSA enduro at Indianapolis on 22 September.
It marked the second success for the German marque with the M Hybrid V8 after inheriting victory at Watkins Glen final yr following disqualification for on-the-road winner Porsche.
