Sheldon van der Linde warns against having too high expectations for the BMW M Hybrid V8 in its first WEC season. WRT’s initial focus is on reliability.
“We can’t expect to set up there and iron out Ferrari or Toyota or whoever.” – Sheldon van der Linde is under no illusions about the debut of the BMW M Hybrid V8 in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) at the 1,812 kilometers of Qatar. Van der Linde is competing in the 24 Hours of Daytona with the racing car this weekend for Team RLL.
“We have to develop the car step by step and create a good basis for the start in Qatar,” he answered when asked by Motorsport.com, the global sister publication of Motorsport-Total.com. There are more defensive tones than last September, when the goal was to become the best LMDh straight away.
“With me, Robin [Frijns] and Rene [Rast] We have very experienced drivers who drive the program forward and ensure that the car is not only fast but also reliable. It’s one thing to work on the car’s pace, but you also have to make sure the car lasts until the end, especially in the early stages of development.
For BMW, reliability comes first. “For us the most important thing is to see the checkered flag at the beginning and make sure we have a reliable car, and then we start working on the performance race by race,” emphasizes the 2022 DTM champion.
“We’ve made some really good steps with WRT
This weekend’s Daytona race is not the South African’s first encounter with the BMW M Hybrid V8. Last year he already worked for Team RLL as an endurance driver at Daytona, Sebring and at Petit Le Mans. He finished second at the 2023 12 Hours of Sebring.
He is “very happy with the progress” the team has made since that podium finish, which only came about through a bit of luck when three GTP cars knocked each other out of the race near the end. “At the beginning of last year we were of course behind, the car had a long way to go,” he emphasizes.
The same applies to the test year with WRT in preparation for the 2024 WEC season: “We made some really good steps with WRT in the winter, they did a really good job and as everyone knows, it is one of the best teams in are active in this field.”
RLL and WRT work closely together: “It’s no secret that we get almost all the data from them. It was a tough start in IMSA, but the development of the car over the season has been really strong, it’s been an upward trend so far .”
“I think we have a strong car to compete with and the exchange of information between the two teams is open. This should of course speed up the learning process and help us get to grips with the new car that we have at Team WRT haven’t used it yet.”