Hero to zero: BMW’s fierce Daytona efforts

The Florida east coast set the scene for one of the toughest races of the year: the IMSA 24-hour endurance race at the Daytona International Speedway. Multi-class racing, wheel to wheel action, and multiple drivers piloting one vehicle are all components that create one spectacle of an event. The race ran on the 25th and 26th of January, starting at 1.40PM local time on Saturday and saw a long lasting 4-way battle for the overall lead unfold with both the no. 6 and no. 7 Porsche Penske cars, the no. 60 Acura, and the no. 24 BMW. The no. 24 BMW amazed spectators by splitting the dominant Porsche cars with five hours to go and seemed to move on towards a battle for the lead with the no. 6 car.

The GTP BMW M Motorsports car, photo retrieved from Racer.com.

Endurance racing: what is it?

The dynamics of endurance racing are things you would have to experience yourself. My description would be unpredictable, chaotic, and tense. Of course, drivers do not sit in their cars for 24 hours straight, that would be inhumane, so each car has at least three different drivers who take turns racing the same car, therefore it is a true team effort both on and off track to succeed in IMSA. Endurance racing is a multi-class event, which means there are various types of cars competing, in this race specifically there were four separate classes: GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD, with 61 cars in total on the grid. The beauty of the sport therefore is navigating the slower cars on track or anticipating on the faster cars zooming past during the event. Endurance racing requires a driver to give it their all in terms of focus, as the speed difference between classes can be massive. Not only does a 24-hour race like Daytona challenge a driver’s stamina, but it is also a true mental game as well, drivers must make concise decisions when passing other drivers and one mistake might just put you off guard for the rest of the race.

In focus: The journey of BMW no. 24

In qualifying Dries Vanthoor showcased immense one lap pace securing pole position for the 24 hours of Daytona, which of course in the grand scheme of things barely matters on a track where passing cars is like stealing candy from a baby. As the experienced Belgian was the qualifying driver, he had to start the race on Saturday. Well, what a start it was. After nearly two hours behind the wheel Philipp Eng was about to take over the no. 24 leading by over 20 seconds in the overall classification. A minor inconvenience occurred as Vanthoor misjudged the drive into pitlane and had a minor collision with the wall, costing the team not in damage but in time. It got even worse when Eng came in for his first stop, as the pit crew mistakenly refueled the car whilst still on jacks, which is against the regulations. The penalty that followed dropped the BMW into 10th place, and when ex-Formula 1 driver Kevin Magnussen took place behind the wheel, he found himself one lap down. The Dane, who hadn’t driven a GTP car in race conditions since the Daytona race in 2022, showcased proper race craft and pace, handing the car back over in a comfortable fourth place. After this stint he explained to The Race how “I only sort of made that switch after new year. I had to learn everything very quickly, and I'm still learning as I went now, in the stints."

The BMW M Motorsports GTP car during qualifying for the 24 hours of Daytona, photo from BMW M Motorsport on X.

Night came down, the temperature dropped, and some cars started to gain some time under the colder circumstances. In the GTP class however, the pace of the Porsche Penske’s, the no. 60 Acura, and the no. 24 BMW was unmatched as a four-way battle seemed to be in store for the rest of the race. With Swiss Italian driver Raffaele Marciello in the car, BMW was looking good for a high finish. 8 hours into the race the rhythm was somewhat disturbed by a full course yellow (FCY), forcing all drivers to lower their speed as trackside marshals cleared up an incident. The restart, however, immediately saw the FCY return as on the exit of turn one Cadillac driver Louis Delétraz lost his car, spun into the barrier, and landed back on track where he was collected by a GTD Pro car which in turn took out two LMP2 cars. After the FCY cleared, Marciello completed his task, which was handing the car over in one piece, with great success. The no. 24 would keep on fighting for the podium places throughout the night.

Magnussen hopped into the car a little before 8.00AM local time and quickly adjusted to the warmer circumstances compared to his last midnight stint. With little over 5 hours to go Magnussen got himself into a lap long battle with the no. 6 Porsche and snatched second place just 3 seconds behind the no. 7 Porsche. The battle for victory would come down to the final hours as Vanthoor took over. Long did he remain in between both Porsches. Disaster struck with one hour to go, as the no. 021 GTD Ferrari came into the path of the BMW causing front-end damage and a puncture.

Porsche was now on for a 1-2 finish, and the BMW found itself a lap down in fourth place. With just five minutes on the clock, Blomqvist put his no. 60 Acura into second place in a stunning last-minute dash, he would be 1.3s short of victory after a 24-hour long race.

Takeaways for BMW

BMW evidently had a race winning car; this race just wasn’t meant to be for the German manufacturer.  “Of course we had hoped for a different outcome of the Daytona weekend. With 50 minutes left, we were in the fight for the win in all categories. Everyone could see how fast and reliable our car is. The drivers and the teams did a great job and made no mistakes. But that's racing” said Franciscus van Meel, CEO of BMW motorsports after the Daytona weekend. Qualifying star Dries Vanthoor reflected “Obviously finishing in P4 in a 24-hour race is not the end of the world, but at the end of the day it is very sad to fight for 22 hours and not come home with a podium, which we for sure deserved.” Overall, BMW is assured of having a race winning car to compete with, moving on towards that huge mark on the endurance racing calendar for June 14 and June 15 the car must be finetuned, the drivers must be sharp, and the strategy has to be perfected to win in Le Mans.