Car Racing News: BMW M Motorsport Sees Speed Gains in Spa WEC Debut
(Spa, Belgium – WEC Race Weekend)
In the latest edition of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), BMW M Motorsport has shown promising pace with its new LMDh contender, despite a series of penalties that prevented the team from scoring higher finishes.
According to Andreas Roos, the boss of BMW M Motorsport, the German manufacturer “did some steps on pure pace” at the Spa 6 Hours event. Although the two BMW entries finished 11th and 13th, Roos highlighted the car’s competitiveness in the fast sectors of the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, which is a positive sign as the team prepares for the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours next month.
“The pace was there to fight for position five, six, seven,” Roos told Autosport. “We did some good lap times and when you look at the screens our cars are fastest in the first sector and fastest in the last sector.”
The strong performance in the first and last sectors of the Spa circuit is significant, as these sections more closely replicate the Circuit de la Sarthe, the home of the Le Mans 24 Hours. Roos acknowledged that while the team is not yet at the pace to win races, they have made further progress in their quest for competitiveness.
However, a series of penalties, including a drive-through for Rene Rast and a five-second time penalty for Robin Frijns, prevented the #20 BMW LMDh from achieving a better result. Roos questioned the decision against Rast, arguing that the driver had “nowhere he could go” when the incident occurred.
Despite the setbacks, BMW scored a point on their WEC debut in Qatar in March and followed it up with a sixth-place finish at Imola in April. The team’s best qualifying performance so far this season was fifth place for Rast in the initial round of qualifying at Spa, though he could only manage 10th in the Hyperpole session.
As the WEC calendar heads to the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours next month, BMW M Motorsport will be eager to build on its recent pace and put together a strong performance at the iconic endurance race.
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