BMW M Motorsport have confirmed their 2025 FIA WEC and IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Campionship driver lineups for the Hypercar and GTP classes.
With Kevin Magnussen joining the squad, Nick Yelloly switching to Acura and both Jesse Krohn and Connor De Phillippi not featuring in BMW’s top class plans in 2025 there is a very different look and feel, particularly in the IMSA team, for the coming season.
Eight works drivers will share the driving duties for BMW M Team WRT in the FIA WEC and BMW M Team RLL in the IMSA series.
Kevin Magnussen is joined by Philipp Eng, Robin Frijns, Raffaele Marciello, René Rast, Sheldon van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor , and Marco Wittmann.
FIA WEC
In the BMW M Team WRT line-up for the FIA WEC, there is one change compared to the debut season. In the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, Magnussen will start alongside Marciello and Vanthoor with Wittmann switching to an IMSA programme. The crew of car #20 remains unchanged with Frijns, Rast, and van der Linde.
IMSA
Eng stays in North America and will enter his third season with the BMW M Hybrid V8 there, the only full season driver to stay with the programme.
Van der Linde and Vanthoor will take on a dual role, competing as regular drivers in both the FIA WEC and the full IMSA season.
Vanthoor and Eng will share the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8, while van der Linde and Wittmann will drive the #25 sister car.
Due to scheduling conflicts between the two racing series, only two drivers per car will participate in the FIA WEC event at Spa-Francorchamps in May. Vanthoor and van der Linde will prioritise the IMSA event at Laguna Seca.
For the endurance races of the IMSA series at Daytona, Sebring, and Road Atlanta, the other four LMDh drivers will supplement the line-ups. Magnussen will compete in all three races in the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8, with Marciello joining as the fourth driver at Daytona. In car #25, Frijns will drive all three races, with Rast completing the Daytona quartet.
Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “We have high goals for the upcoming season with our BMW M Hybrid V8 prototypes. To achieve these, we are striving for optimisations in all areas. For our driver line-up, this means focusing and specialising.
“The more time our drivers spend behind the wheel of the BMW M Hybrid V8, the better they will get to know its handling and the more feedback they can provide to our engineers.
“The goal is to intensify the development of the BMW M Hybrid V8 in collaboration with the specialists at the teams and at BMW M Motorsport. It also helps us in this regard, that some drivers compete in both championships, thereby further improving the exchange of information.
“We are convinced that this way joining our forces will bring us advantages.
“Of course, the schedule overlap in May is not ideal, but we have the regulatory option to compete in a 6-hour FIA WEC race with two drivers per car, which we will utilise.
“The fact that the season starts in January with the 24-hour race at Daytona is very beneficial for us. This allows us to have all eight drivers together for an extended period early in the season, helping us to optimally synchronise with each other.”
