BMW M Team RLL finally turned pace into results at Road America. After a season of near misses, the BMW M Hybrid V8 scored its first win of the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship—and added a second-place finish for good measure. Philipp Eng and Dries Vanthoor brought the #24 car across the line first, followed by Sheldon van der Linde and Marco Wittmann in the #25. It’s a breakthrough for the GTP program after four pole positions and two earlier podiums that didn’t quite pan out.
Early Trouble, Late Strategy
Things didn’t start smoothly. Both BMWs qualified well—second and third—but a pit lane incident shuffled them to the back. During a routine stop, a rival prototype made contact, lightly injuring a BMW crew member and costing the team valuable time. From there, it was damage control. With about an hour to go, BMW called both cars in for their final fuel stop, banking on a yellow flag to reset the race. The caution came, and the strategy worked. Eng and Wittmann emerged out front after the restart and kept it there until the finish, despite lapped traffic and pressure from behind.
Paul Miller Racing Takes GTD PRO Win
BMW also picked up a class win in GTD PRO. Neil Verhagen and Madison Snow drove the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO to first place—their first win this season and the second for the team. Dan Harper and Max Hesse, who won at Watkins Glen, had a tougher time in the sister #48 car and finished seventh after a scrappy race with contact and traffic.
In GTD, Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher came close to another BMW podium, finishing fourth in the #96 Turner Motorsport M4 GT3 EVO.
BMW and Rahal to Go Separate Ways After 2025
This result also comes at a turning point. After 17 years, BMW M Motorsport and Bobby Rahal’s team will part ways at the end of the season. It’s been one of the most consistent partnerships in the IMSA paddock, with 24 wins and more than 100 podiums. Highlights include back-to-back Daytona 24 wins in 2019 and 2020 with the M8 GTE, and a dominant run in the GT class with the M3 GT back in 2010 and 2011. More recently, the M Hybrid V8 brought BMW back to prototype racing in 2023. It now runs in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship.
BMW says it will continue in the Hypercar class in the years ahead, but it won’t be with Team RLL.
