Article Summary
- Valentino Rossi lost control of the race car but executed a flawless 360.
- Wearing a Monster Energy livery, the race car spun out on a dirty section of the track.
- Rossi saved the BMW V12 LMR from ending up in the hay bales.
The BMW V12 LMR is back, but not as you remember it. Gone is the beautifully simple white livery of yore, replaced by a far more controversial dark look with Monster Energy branding. None other than Valentino Rossi got behind the wheel of the iconic race car for a special showcase at the Goodwood Festival of Speed over the weekend. While the high-speed run didn’t go as planned, it could have ended much worse.
The legendary MotoGP rider spun out after losing the rear of the V12 LMR in the second corner. Even at 47, his quick reactions ultimately saved the day, and the car never crashed. As a matter of fact, it didn’t even leave the asphalt for a second, let alone hit the adjacent hay bales. Driving the M4 GT3 for Team WRT in the GT World Challenge Europe this year, VR46 managed to keep all four wheels on the tarmac by executing a flawless 360. Well, a 180 shortly followed by another 180.
As for why it happened, there could be several reasons, though one becomes immediately apparent after watching the video. It’s easy to see just how dirty that part of the track was, making traction a real issue. That’s especially true when the car in question has a V12 engine sending nearly 600 horsepower to the rear wheels. The V12 LMR is also remarkably lightweight, tipping the scales at around 900 kilograms (1,984 pounds).
The BMW V12 LMR Is A Tail-Happy Race Car
Potentially, the tires weren’t warm enough to provide the necessary grip for such a tail-happy machine, but either way, “The Doctor” prevented what looked like an inevitable accident. He drove away with nothing more than perhaps a bruised ego, while the priceless V12 LMR escaped unscathed. The mishap goes to show that things can go wrong in a split second, even when you’re a professional race car driver.
Near-crash aside, it’s good to hear the roar of a naturally aspirated V12 again. The mid-mounted S70/3 helped the V12 LMR reach 214 mph (342 km/h) on the Mulsanne Straight in 1999, when it triumphed at Le Mans. Four years earlier, McLaren won the endurance race at the Circuit de la Sarthe with the F1 GTR, powered by an earlier version of the engine, the S70/2.
While the V12’s racing days are long gone, BMW still sells twelve-cylinder road cars through its Rolls-Royce subsidiary. Built at the Hams Hall plant in the UK, the N74B68 is a twin-turbocharged 6.75-liter powerhouse at the heart of the Ghost, Cullinan, and Phantom. It’s highly unlikely that the V12 will ever be installed again in a BMW or an ALPINA product.
