24h Le Mans
BMW celebrates its 100th anniversary this year and recently announced a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2018. In the meantime, let’s cast our minds back to the 1990s, when the manufacturer claimed two victories in the famous endurance race.
This story begins with BMW supplying the engine for the first McLaren road car, which took a flamboyant surprise victory at Le Mans in 1995. On the back of such unexpected success BMW were spurred on to design the prototype that won the 1999 race. However, in the 2010s, the German manufacturer went back to making emblematic road cars such as the M3.
1992 - McLaren introduces the F1 at the Monaco Grand Prix de Monaco, complete with 6.1-litre BMW V12 engine.
1995 - With several gentlemen drivers clamouring to enter the car in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the McLaren F1 becomes the F1 GTR and is ready for endurance racing. Seven of them line up at Le Mans that June. In a rain-drenched race, Yannick Dalmas, JJ Lehto and Masanori Sekiya make a splash by beating the prototypes to the chequered flag. It is a triumph for the marque: four other McLarens finish, including three in the top five. Andy Wallace, Derek Bell and his son Justin are third, Ray Bellm, Maurizio Sandro Sala and Mark Blundell fourth with Fabien Giroix, Olivier Grouillard and Jean-Denis Deletraz fifth.
1996 - Five McLaren F1 GTRs finish in the top 10. BMW partner Team Bigazzi’s car is eighth, with a trio of VIP drivers: Nelson Piquet (three-time F1 world champion), Johnny Cecotto (Grand Prix motorcycle world champion) and Danny Sullivan (winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 1985).
1997 - BMW Motorsport enters two F1 GTRs. Peter Kox, Roberto Ravaglia and Eric Helary finish third.
1998 - BMW enters the V12 LM prototype, with the same engine as the McLaren F1. Both cars bowed out before the end of the race.
1999 - The newly designed BMW V12 LMR wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Tom Kristensen, JJ Lehto and Dirk Müller were in the lead for much of the race but the car couldn’t last the course. Their teammates Yannick Dalmas, Pierluigi Martini and Joachim Winkelhock win the day.
2010 - After a ten-year hiatus, BMW returns to Le Mans with two M3 E92s, one of them an art car designed by Jeff Koons.
2011 - BMW clinches a podium place in the new LM GTE Pro class with Joey Hand, Jörg Müller and Andy Priaulx in third. The Bavarian marque has not graced the Circuit de la Sarthe since.
Part One of the BMW saga
For more on BMW at Le Mans, see Issue N°2 of Spirit of Le Mans, the magazine published by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest.
Photo: Pictured at the scrutineering session, this BMW M3 clinched third place in LM GTE Pro at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2011.
