The season opener of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship of 2022 is nearly here and, despite all sorts of rumors going around online, we were still in the dark about the driver line-up for the BMW M Team RLL. That all changed today, as we learned who will be taking the wheel in the 2022 24-Hours of Daytona race in the last weekend of the month.
According to a recent press release, two quartets will be lining-up to the starting line, in the #24 and #25 BMW M4 GT3 race cars. The #24 car will have Philipp Eng, Sheldon van der Linde, Marco Wittmann and Nick Yelloly behind the wheel. At the same time, the other M4 GT3 will have Connor De Phillippi, John Edwards, Augusto Farfus and Jesse Krohn doing the honors. On top of that, there will be a third M4 GT3 on the track, ran by Turner Motorsport, with veteran Bill Auberlen behind the wheel, joined by Robby Foley, Michael Dinan and Jens Kligmann in the GTD class.
“It hasn’t even been two months since we bid farewell to the BMW M8 GTE at Petit Le Mans, and we’re already in the critical phase of preparing for the first major IMSA highlight for the new BMW M4 GT3,” said Mike Krack, head of BMW M Motorsport. “With our drivers who will be competing in the two BMW M Team RLL BMW M4 GT3s, we have opted for speed and experience – both at Daytona and with the new car.”
“Almost all of our BMW M works drivers have already contested the 24 Hours of Daytona and will be working together to find the perfect set-up for the BMW M4 GT3 at the International Speedway during the ‘Roar before the 24’ already. I am confident that we will be very well prepared going into the GTD PRO premiere of the IMSA series. I’m also looking forward to seeing how Turner Motorsport fares in the GTD class,” he added.
Out of the eight drivers running for the BMW M Team RLL, only two will be new to the endurance classic, the other six having already competed in this particular race last year, but behind the wheel of a BMW M8 GTE. The rookies are van der Linde and Yelloly.
