BMW joins FIA World Endurance Championship, will race at Le Mans 24 Hours – LMGTE class from 2018

2016 Le Mans 24 Hours 81

That’s right, we will soon see BMW racing in the Le Mans 24 Hours! Munich has announced that it will be joining the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) from 2018, and the legendary race in France is of course the crown jewel of the WEC. BMW has not been seen at Le Mans since 2011, when it competed in the GTE class.

As part of its global motorsport strategy, BMW will enter the LMGTE category of the WEC, the series said. This means that BMW won’t be going against Porsche, Audi and Toyota in the premier LMP1 category; but will be competing against Aston Martin, Ferrari, Ford, Corvette and Porsche in the category where the race cars look like road-going supercars.

“Starting with the 2018 season, we want to further expand our activities in GT racing and compete in the FIA WEC. This obviously also includes our return to Le Mans, which we are particularly looking forward to. The way the WEC has developed so well makes us confident that there is a big future for GT racing,” said BMW Motorsport director Jens Marquardt.

Further details about the programme will be announced at a future date, the company said. There’s no race like the 24 Heures du Mans, and this year’s edition left this writer and thousands others at Circuit de la Sarthe, plus millions watching on TV, shellshocked and breathless. Full account here.

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • 4G63T DSM on Sep 27, 2016 at 6:12 pm

    Title should have read re-join.

    But i suppose this is a good thing. I beleive technology developed at endurance racing and rallying stand a far better chance of making it to our normal cars then say Formula racing.

    Thumb up 0 Thumb down 1
  • seancorr (Member) on Sep 27, 2016 at 8:29 pm

    In time to premier the all new Z4/5

    Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Leonardo on Sep 29, 2016 at 8:23 am

    Fantastic! Will be looking forward to the race.

    Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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