Le Castellet. BMW Motorsport has completed an intensive three
days of testing as part of preparations for the race debut of the
BMW M8 GTE in 2018. Endurance – with an intensive 24-hour run – was
the main focus of the testing for the new GT racing car at the Le
Castellet “Circuit Paul Ricard” in the south of France. Testing
duties were shared between the four BMW works drivers Martin Tomczyk
(GER), António Félix da Costa (POR), Philipp Eng (AUT) and Alexander
Sims (GBR).
Monday’s schedule featured a performance test. This allowed the
engineers to evaluate a new development level for the aerodynamic
components. Tuesday morning was used for set-up work, to prepare the
BMW M8 GTE for the endurance test, which took place from Tuesday to Wednesday.
The programme of preparations now continues with more testing in the
USA, including the official test for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar
Championship (IWSC) in Daytona (USA), at the start of December. The
new BMW M8 GTE will then make its race debut at the end of January, in
the Daytona 24-hour race.
Reactions to the tests at Le Castellet.
Jens Marquardt, BMW Motorsport Director: “This
24-hour endurance test marks another important step in the preparation
of the new BMW M8 GTE. This test confirmed that our development of the
car is on track. We have seen that we can complete a marathon test
without any major issues. Of course, when developing a new race car
there are always areas with a little more room for improvement. Our
engineers will now work hard on those in Munich, and during the tests
in the USA. Overall, we are pleased with what we have achieved so far
and we can hardly wait to experience the BMW M8 GTE in its first race
at Daytona in January.”
Martin Tomczyk: “The test went positively. An
endurance test like this is a real acid test for the car, and the BMW
M8 GTE passed it. Of course, there were one or two minor things but
they did not affect the 24-hour run as a whole.”
Philipp Eng: “It is a more than promising sign that
we can already complete the full 24-hour distance with barely any
problems at this stage of development. We had no real difficulties at
all and also the performance and driveability of the car are very good.”