The time has come: This weekend, June 15/16, 2024, the 92nd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is scheduled. This year, as a result of the global endurance racing boom, a total of nine different manufacturers will duel for the prestigious overall victory. BMW’s LMDh car will also be taking part for the first time.
Marco Wittmann, a Le Mans newcomer, will also be taking the wheel of the #15 BMW. This is not an easy task, especially since the hypercar cars are still relatively new. Although Wittmann made three starts in the US sports car championship IMSA with the BMW M Hybrid V8 in 2023 in addition to the three WEC races this year, the 34-year-old still has a lot to learn. “I would say I’m actually not at 100 percent yet,” Wittmann revealed in an interview with Motorsport-Magazin.com.
Wittmann: It is a difficult racing car
“You have to be honest: There is relatively little driving time,” Wittmann pointed out. The characteristics of BMW’s LMDh car also make it difficult for the two-time DTM champion to get used to it. “It’s very complex with all the systems, including the handling,” said Wittmann. “It really is a difficult racing car. And that’s what makes it so difficult to find the right setup and the ultimate performance.”
Why are LMDh cars so complex?
Wittmann is not the first BMW driver to report on the complexity of the car, which is powered by a former DTM engine. After this year’s 24-hour race in Daytona, three-time DTM champion Rene Rast was also impressed by the car – and even compared it to the complexity of Formula 1. You can read what Wittmann’s DTM teammate (Schubert-BMW) had to say in this article:
But what makes an LMDh car so complex? “There are several factors,” explained Wittmann. “On the one hand, a big factor is that you actually have all the weight on the rear axle. You have the engine, gearbox and the hybrid unit at the back. That is a factor that makes the car very sluggish and difficult to drive.”
“And then of course all the issues with the settings, brake balance, the hybrid unit with the regeneration and the brake-by-wire,” Wittmann continued. “It’s so complex because you can have a lot of different settings, but they could also go in exactly the wrong direction.”
It is precisely these numerous adjustment options that present challenges for the drivers, not only in their collaboration with the engineers, but also when driving. “It’s not like you sit in the car, drive 30 laps in a row and don’t adjust anything. In Imola, I had to adjust something every two laps, which is extreme,” revealed Wittmann.
This is a clear difference to GT3 racing cars or the Class 1 cars that will be used in the DTM until the end of 2020, Wittmann continued. “You have to think while driving. That’s a bit of a difficulty because you can’t concentrate 100 percent on racing or perhaps on the respective corner.”
Wittmann not the only BMW debutant in Le Mans
Wittmann is not the only driver in the top-class BMW driver line-up in the Hypercar class of the WEC, which is making its debut at the endurance classic this weekend. With Wittmann’s teammate Raffaele Marciello in the #15 BMW and Sheldon van der Linde in the sister BMW with starting number #20, two other Le Mans newcomers are taking part.
In addition to Marciello, Dries Vanthoor completes the driver line-up in the #15 BMW, which has already competed in Le Mans four times. For the Belgian, however, this is the first time he has taken part in Le Mans in a car capable of winning overall. BMW will face strong competition in its quest for overall victory: In addition to the Munich-based company, Lamborghini, Alpine and Isotta Fraschini will also be joining the already established manufacturers, including last year’s winners Ferrari, Toyota, Cadillac, Porsche and Peugeot, with their prototypes for the first time.
Will Wittmann score his first WEC points in Le Mans?
At least on the first three WEC race weekends in 2024, these established manufacturers also fought it out for victory among themselves. At the season opener in Qatar, the world championship leader #6 works Porsche (Estre/Lotterer/L. Vanthoor) won, while in Imola and most recently in Spa the #7 Toyota (Conway/de Vries/Kobayashi) and the #12 Jota customer Porsche (Ilott/Stevens) triumphed.
For BMW, sixth place was the best they could hope for with the #15 BMW (Frijns/Rast/van der Linde) at the 6-hour race in Imola. The #20 BMW of Wittmann, Marciello and Vanthoor, on the other hand, has not yet made it into the top 10. The drivers are therefore still without points in the 2024 WEC season. Will things be different in Le Mans? After all, Wittmann is travelling to France with a tailwind after his DTM victory in Zandvoort. On the official test day for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the best-placed BMW finished sixth. You can find all the information about the test here: