BMW recently revealed its LMDh prototype race car, the BMW M Hybrid V8, for the upcoming IMSA WeatherTech Championship. When it’s revealed, the BMW LMDh racer will be one of many from premium sports car brands, which is great news for fans of the sport and customers alike.
The brands BMW will be competing with will be Audi, Porsche, Toyota, and even Cadillac. Not only will those brands provide excellent competition for BMW on track, which will in turn create some thrilling racing, but they’ll also create competition on the road.
One of the main reasons why so many manufacturers are entering the LMDh class of endurance racing is the technology development. There aren’t as many restrictions and regulations in LMDh as there are in, say, Formula 1. So if brands want to develop battery, electric, and hybrid tech for racing, which will then translate to road cars, LMDh provides more innovative freedom. It also provides more freedom than even Formula E, which is why BMW and Audi both dropped out of the all-electric sport. Both brands felt that LMDh, despite using hybrid race cars, offered more freedom to develop new technologies.
Admittedly, they don’t have complete and total control over what they race. All teams must use chassis and battery tech from one of four different manufacturers. BMW is partnered with Dallara, as is Cadillac. However, how teams use that tech, tune their cars, and study it is far more relaxed than in other forms of motorsport.
Motorsport has always been one of the greatest drivers of automotive technology. Just like how space travel helps to create aviation tech, as well as tech in many other fields, motorsport helps to create automotive tech for the road. BMW, as well as its other competitors, will only get better at making electrified technologies because of its new LMDh racer. Which will only make things better for us, as customers and fans.
