12h Sebring: BMW M Team RLL returns to the site of the first podium success for the BMW M Hybrid V8.

Munich. The story one year ago was the first podium in the second race after the second place finish for the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 at the 12 Hours of Sebring (USA). This coming weekend, BMW M Team RLL returns to the Sebring International Raceway for the second race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. The goal is to repeat last year's success and celebrate the first podium of the season in 2024 as well.

In the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8, the two regular drivers Philipp Eng (AUT) and Jesse Krohn (FIN) will take turns with Augusto Farfus (BRA). In the sister #25 car, last year's runners-up Connor De Phillippi (USA) and Nick Yelloly (GBR) will join forces with Maxime Martin (BEL) for the endurance classic in Florida.

In the GTD-PRO category, BMW M works drivers Madison Snow and Neil Verhagen, together with Bryan Sellers (all USA), will fight for the second podium for Paul Miller Racing in the second race of the season. At Daytona, the #1 BMW M4 GT3 finished in third place. Good omen: Last year, Paul Miller Racing won in Sebring in the GTD class. This time, BMW M works driver Robby Foley, Patrick Gallagher, and Jake Walker (all USA) will compete for Turner Motorsport in the #96 BMW M4 GT3 in this category.

The 12 Hours of Sebring will start on Saturday at 9:40 local time (14:40 CET).

Comments before the race:

Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “It is something special to return to the place where we achieved an important milestone of our LMDh project one year ago with the first podium for the BMW M Hybrid V8. At this year's 24 Hours of Daytona, we showed strong pace in the race but were not able to reward ourselves with good results. We want to do better at Sebring. We have analysed the data from Daytona and drawn our conclusions. The test we had at Sebring a few weeks ago gives us confidence that we can play a good role in the race on Saturday. The goal is to get on the podium again. In the GTD categories, I also expect our BMW M Motorsport teams to have good chances again.”

Philipp Eng (#24 BMW M Hybrid V8): “Sebring is one of my favorite tracks in North America – really old school! The bumps are especially challenging with the GTP cars. We showed good speed at Daytona and made important steps in the right direction during the Sebring test. Hopefully, we can achieve a good result for BMW M Motorsport and BMW M Team RLL.”

Nick Yelloly (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8): “After a relatively long break, I am really looking forward to the Sebring race. We had a good test there a few weeks ago and were able to make significant progress compared to last year. The memories of Sebring are very positive, as that's where we achieved the first podium with the BMW M Hybrid V8 in 2023. We approached the race conservatively back then and ended up in second place. This time we hope to be able to fight for the win.”