With Marciello, Wittmann and Van der Linde, BMW has three drivers celebrating their debut at Le Mans – the Munich-based company does not believe it is at a disadvantage
After a long absence, BMW is fighting for victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans again this year: with the BMW M Hybrid V8, the Munich-based company is aiming for its second overall victory since 1999. However, with Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann and Sheldon van der Linde, BMW has three drivers in its line-up who have never competed in the endurance classic at the Sarthe. A disadvantage for the Munich team?
“Our driver line-up is a very strong one and we have put a lot of effort into it and also had many discussions with WRT in order to have the feeling that we have the best possible driver line-up”,
“We have very experienced drivers who have already raced at Le Mans, even in LMP1 cars; we have young, fast drivers who have already proven that they are capable of winning 24-hour races,” Roos recalls. “I think we have the perfect combination of young guns and our experienced drivers.”
As a reminder: Marciello and Wittmann have both won the 24-hour race at Spa, while van der Linde finished second twice in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. Like Wittmann and team-mate Rene Rast, the South African was also crowned DTM champion
“Le Mans is not a difficult track “
WRT boss Vincent Vosse therefore believes that the Le Mans rookies will not be much inferior to the three more experienced BMW drivers who have already contested the endurance classic. Robin Frijns (2021, LMP2) and Dries Vanthoor (2017, GTE Am) have already celebrated class victories at Le Mans, while Rast has competed five times since 2014 and finished second in the LMP2 class in 2016.
“Le Mans is obviously different to any other circuit, but you shouldn’t see Le Mans as a difficult circuit,” Vosse told Autosport. “It’s not technical, it’s not difficult. It’s always [nice] to have experience at Le Mans, but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t know the track.”
Van der Linde, who shares the 20 M Hybrid V8 with Rast and Frijns, is delighted to be on the grid despite his lack of Le Mans experience. “It’s very exciting that BMW is giving us the chance to race without experience and I think we should take our hats off to them,” says the South African.
“We know a lot of manufacturers who say, ‘You need experience to be here, we can’t take you now, we’d rather take someone a bit older and more experienced who’s done this before’, and BMW have clearly gone for youth, which is great to see and not often the case.”
Nonetheless, Van der Linde admits to “training a bit more than usual” to prepare for the important race. “I don’t think it’s the most difficult track to learn, so it’s mainly about the race, the different classes and getting through the night without any problems. “
Frijns: A Le Mans rookie to class victory
Teammate Frijns also believes that the mix of rookies and experienced Le Mans drivers “shouldn’t be an issue”. The class victory on his Le Mans debut in 2021 shows that drivers who have proven themselves in other categories can be immediately successful on the Circuit de la Sarthe.
“I had a few contacts with teams that I wanted to drive for at Le Mans and they all replied: ‘Yes, but you don’t know Le Mans, so we won’t take you as a rookie’,” the Dutchman told Autosport. It was only when WRT entered the LMP2 class that the tide turned.
“Then I drove there in 2021 and won it straight away,” smiles Frijns. “If you’re fast as a driver, it doesn’t matter where you go. Le Mans is obviously 24 hours, everyone wants to do very well, nobody wants to make mistakes, but at the end of the day, if you’re a good driver, you’re a good driver everywhere. “
