After announcing in June that it would return to Le Mans as of 2023, BMW Motorsport has just unveiled the first teaser of the prototype that will be part of the new Le Mans Daytona Hybrid, or LMDh, category.
Seen as the spiritual successor of the V12 LMR, the last BMW prototype to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1999, this new prototype from the Munich brand presents itself with an aggressive design, emerging with the traditional double kidney.
In this teaser image, the front splitter is still «dressed» in the colors of the BMW M, in a sketch signed jointly between BMW M Motorsport and BMW Group Designworks to illustrate the “visceral efficiency” of the competition car.
With two very simple headlights, which are no more than two vertical strips, this prototype — with which BMW will also enter the US IMSA championship — also stands out for its air intake on the roof and a rear wing that extends over almost the entire width of the model.
When it returns to Le Mans in 2023, BMW will have competition from big names such as Audi, Porsche, Ferrari, Toyota, Cadillac, Peugeot (returning in 2022) and Acura, which will be joined by Alpine the following year , in 2024.
This return of the Munich brand will be made with two prototypes and in partnership with Team RLL, with the chassis to be supplied by Dallara.
As for the engine, it will be based on a gasoline engine that will develop at least 630 hp, with the hybrid system to be supplied by Bosch. In total, the maximum power should be around 670 hp. The battery pack will be supplied by Williams Advanced Engineering, with the transmission to be built by Xtrac.
Tests start in 2022
The first test car will be built in Italy at the Dallara factory by BMW M Motorsport and Dallara engineers, with its track debut (in tests, naturally) set for next year, at the Varano circuit in Parma (Italy).