Photo: BMW
American manufacturers still master U.S. based endurance races, even after such treathening entries like the BMW M8 GTE. The Rolex 24 at Daytona, which took place over the weekend, ended with American-made cars on the top three spots of the race.
Racing in the GTLM class, the two M8 GTEs finished 7th and 9th, respectively. The top two position went to Ford GT and the 3rd and 4th were occupied by the Corvette C7. Between the American cars and the German ones squeezed a Ferrari 488 GTE and a Porsche 911 RSR.
Despite the not-so-glamorous results, the German manufacturer is pleased by the performances showed by the GTE during its first racing sortie. In BMW's books, “no other new BMW GT race car has ever been more reliable on its debut.” And by that they mean they didn't experience any technical failures.
“To finish such a tough debut race with both cars after 24 hours without major technical problems is something we can be more than proud of. Everything has been said with regards to the reasons for the gap in performance compared to the competition. The car couldn’t show its true potential yet,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt.
The BMW M8 GTE, powered by a 4.0-liter, eight cylinder TwinPower turbo engine with an output of 500 hp, is now being prepared for the next race, the one at Sebring.
After the Rolex 24 at Daytona race, BMW accused, in a somewhat mild tone, it had been disadvantaged by the Balance of Performance (BoP) rules, despite the fact that the M8 has been the only race car to lose weight in order to comply.
After the race, the German manufacturer said it has reached an agreement “to find an appropriate BoP assessment for the upcoming events starting with Sebring, allowing the BMW M8 GTE to show its true performance for the benefit of the series, BMW and all of our fans.”
Despite the not-so-glamorous results, the German manufacturer is pleased by the performances showed by the GTE during its first racing sortie. In BMW's books, “no other new BMW GT race car has ever been more reliable on its debut.” And by that they mean they didn't experience any technical failures.
“To finish such a tough debut race with both cars after 24 hours without major technical problems is something we can be more than proud of. Everything has been said with regards to the reasons for the gap in performance compared to the competition. The car couldn’t show its true potential yet,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt.
The BMW M8 GTE, powered by a 4.0-liter, eight cylinder TwinPower turbo engine with an output of 500 hp, is now being prepared for the next race, the one at Sebring.
After the Rolex 24 at Daytona race, BMW accused, in a somewhat mild tone, it had been disadvantaged by the Balance of Performance (BoP) rules, despite the fact that the M8 has been the only race car to lose weight in order to comply.
After the race, the German manufacturer said it has reached an agreement “to find an appropriate BoP assessment for the upcoming events starting with Sebring, allowing the BMW M8 GTE to show its true performance for the benefit of the series, BMW and all of our fans.”
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