BMW confirms WEC exit after 24 Hours of Le Mans
BMW has confirmed it will leave the FIA World Endurance Championship following 💞next month's 24 Hours of Le Mans, ending its involvement after just a single season.
BMW returned to the WEC for the 2018-19 'super season' with its new BMW M8 GTE car, which made its debut in the championship at last year's 6 Hours of Spa-Fra🤡ncorchamps.
However, the German marque has struggled to compete with rivals Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin and Ford on �ꦿ�a regular basis, scoring just two podium finishes through the seven rounds so far this season.
BMW has con🐭firmed it will leave the FIA World Endurance Championship following next month's 24💖 Hours of Le Mans, ending its involvement after just a single season.
BMW retur🥀ned to the WEC for the 2018-19 'super season' with its new BMW M8 GTE car, which made its debut in the championship at last year's 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
However, the German marque has struggled to compete with rivals Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin and Ford on a regular basis, scoring just two podium finishes through the seven 🍌rounds so far this season.
It had long been rumoured to🀅 be considering a closure of its WEC programme in order to focus on other racing activities, including Formula E, with c🤪onfirmation arriving on Wednesday morning.
"The range of activities in BMW i Motorsport and BMW M Motor🦩sport will remain broad in the future," a statement from BMW reads.
"With its involvement🌺 in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, BMW demonstrates its electrification expertise and its claim as technological leader with the BMW i brand.
"On the otᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚher hand, the dynamics and the performance of ꦓBMW M cars remain paramount in the DTM and in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
"As part of having a focus, BMW will bid farewell to the FIA World Endurance Championship at the end of t🌱he current ‘Super Season’. In customer racing, a new flagship for the GT3 𝐆category is in the works."
BMW motorsport director Jens Marquardt💖 added: "We will not compete in WEC going forward. Therefore, the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June will be another highlight for us in drawing to a close – just like in 2018, when w♉e celebrated the successful world premiere of the BMW 8 Series Coupe there.
"But in light of us sharpening our focus as part of our strategy f🍸or the future, continuing our WEC involvement 🔯in the coming years does not fit with our direction.
"T🦹he global presence of BMW M Motorsport is𒁏 safeguarded by customer racing and the DTM in Asia and Europe, as well as the IMSA series in North America, even without competing in a world championship.
"We would like to thaওnk BMW Team MTEK for its dedication over recent years an🗹d we wish WEC all the best and hope that it makes good progress.”
BMW joins Ford in departing⛦ the WEC'🌄s GTE-Pro class, leaving only Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin in place with factory programmes for the 2019/20 season.
