Munich. The driver line-up for BMW M Team RLL’s start to the
second GTP season of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
(IMSA series) in 2024 has been confirmed. Like last season, Connor
De Phillippi (USA) and Nick Yelloly (GBR) are the regular pairing in
the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8. Jesse Krohn (FIN) joins Philipp Eng (AUT)
in the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8. Augusto Farfus (BRA) and Maxime Martin
(BEL) will support the two crews at the Daytona, Sebring and Road
Atlanta (all USA) endurance races. Dries Vanthoor (BEL) and René
Rast (GER) will also strengthen the team at the 24h Daytona.
De Phillippi and Yelloly are back for another crack at the IMSA
title, having picked up one win and a total of five podiums in their
successful first GTP season in 2023. Krohn, who spent three full
seasons at the wheel of the BMW M8 GTE from 2018 to 2020, returns to
the IMSA series as a regular driver alongside Eng. Krohn’s biggest
successes to date came in 2020, when he won the 24h Daytona and the
title in the GTLM class of the Michelin Endurance Cup.
Farfus will also be back in the cockpit of the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8.
He will support Eng and Krohn in three races of the IMSA Michelin
Endurance Cup that comprises five rounds next season. These are the
long-distance races at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta
and, for the first time, Indianapolis. This former 2 hour 40 minute
sprint is being extended to a six-hour endurance race in 2024. Martin
will contest the three classics at Daytona, Sebring and Road Atlanta
together with De Phillippi and Yelloly in the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8.
Vanthoor and Rast will also join BMW M Team RLL for the 24 Hours of
Daytona in January 2024.
In addition, BMW M works drivers Neil Verhagen (USA), Sheldon van der
Linde (RSA), Jens Klingmann (GER), Madison Snow (USA) and Robby Foley
(USA) will compete in the GTD classes with the BMW M4 GT3 at the
Daytona season opener. Verhagen and van der Linde will join reigning
champions Paul Miller Racing with regular drivers Snow and Bryan
Sellers (USA). Klingmann will once again compete with Turner
Motorsport in the squad with regular driver Foley as well as Patrick
Gallagher and Jake Walker (both USA).
Reactions to the driver line-up:
Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “We were
happy with the first season with the BMW M Hybrid V8 in the GTP class
of the IMSA series – particularly given the difficult preparations.
Despite that, there is obviously plenty of room for improvement when
we take the next important step towards our goal to be constantly in
contention for race wins and fight for the title in our second season.
Our drivers will play a big role in this, and we believe we have found
a good balance, with a mix of continuity and fresh impulses. Jesse
Krohn is the only newcomer among the regular drivers. He has a wealth
of experience in the IMSA series and impressed us in his test outings
in the BMW M Hybrid V8. We are convinced that he and Philipp Eng will
complement each other nicely. In the #25 car, Connor De Phillippi and
Nick Yelloly have proved to be a strong and successful duo. Augusto
Farfus, Maxime Martin, Dries Vanthoor and René Rast have all gained
experience in our LMDh car and are very strong additions in races for
the Michelin Endurance Cup, the profile of which has been raised once again.”
Jesse Krohn (#24 BMW M Hybrid V8): “I’ve never waited
for any season as much as I have for the 2024 one. This is truly a
special opportunity for me and I can’t be more grateful to BMW M
Motorsport for putting their trust in me. This is basically what I’ve
worked my whole life for, driving at the pinnacle of sports car racing
in the top class, being the fastest car out on track. I think it’s
also good that I have the IMSA experience from the past from the GT
cars because I can put myself on both sides and know what to expect
from the GT drivers as we pass them in traffic. There is a lot I can
bring in from the past and going back to racing with BMW M Team RLL is
super fun. I always enjoyed racing in the US and everybody at BMW M
Team RLL is like my second family there so it’s really exciting to go
back there and team up with Philipp for the full IMSA season. I can’t
wait to get started; it’s going to be an awesome season.”
Philipp Eng (#24 BMW M Hybrid V8): “I am very excited
about the trust from BMW M Motorsport to be able to compete in IMSA
again. It’s an extremely cool race series, and it was a lot of fun to
race with our new BMW M Hybrid V8 there last year. It hasn’t been an
easy season, but we are heading into the right direction, and this
year there can only be one goal: to challenge for wins and the title.
That’s the stated objective, and I hope we can achieve it. I’m really
looking forward to it.”
Connor De Phillippi (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8): “I am very
excited to return with BMW M Motorsport in the IMSA GTP category. Also
having Nick continuing to be my team-mate I think allows us to build
on our great season we had in 2023 and have an even better season in
2024. This is actually my first year having the same team-mate two
years in a row so I am exctited to continue our relationship together
and execute a hopefully perfect season and continue fighting for
another championship in 2024.”
Nick Yelloly (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8): “I’m obviously
really looking forward to keeping the continuation with both myself
and Connor in the car for a second year together in IMSA. For me, it
will be quite a lot easier knowing all the tracks now, having seen and
done the weekends at all these different circuits in the BMW M Hybrid
V8 for a year now, so I am really looking forward to capitalising on
that. We already had a great season in 2023 with a lot of podiums and
a race win at Watkins Glen, so we are definitely looking to build on
that further. I am sure that the hard work over the winter will put us
in an even better position to fight for the title as we did this year
already and we have one clear aim, which is the title in 2024 and to
try to win as many races as possible.”
