Munich. The 2018/19 ‘Super Season’ in the FIA World Endurance
Championship (WEC) draws to a close on
15th/16th June with the 24 Hours of Le Mans
(FRA). BMW M Motorsport has now announced the six drivers who will
race the two BMW M8 GTE for BMW Team MTEK on the Sarthe region
track. The team’s regular drivers Martin Tomczyk (GER), Nick
Catsburg (NED), António Félix da Costa (POR) and Augusto Farfus
(BRA) will be joined by BMW works drivers Philipp Eng (AUT) and
Jesse Krohn (FIN) at Le Mans.
“The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the biggest endurance race in the world,
and obviously a real highlight on our calendar,” said BMW Motorsport
Director Jens Marquardt. “Perhaps even more so this year than ever
before. After all, we are celebrating a number of special
anniversaries. It is 20 years since we took overall victory with the
BMW V12 LMR and 80 years since we lined up here with the BMW 328. We
want to give the fans something special, so we are bringing both
historic cars to Le Mans. From a sporting perspective, we are
excellently positioned with the drivers we have in the cockpits of the
two BMW M8 GTE. The four regular drivers – Martin, Nick, António and
Augusto – have had podium finishes in the WEC. They are joined by
Philipp and Jesse – another two drivers who also have plenty of
experience in the BMW M8 GTE and know what it takes to be successful
in GT racing. We are looking forward to Le Mans and are now entering
the final phase of preparations.”
Eng will team up with Tomczyk and Catsburg in the #81 BMW M GTE, as
he did in last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Austrian drives for BMW
in the DTM and also regularly competes in GT races for BMW Motorsport.
In January, he took victory in the GTLM class at the 24 Hours of
Daytona (USA), where he raced alongside Farfus.
Krohn is making his Le Mans debut this year. The Finn, ‘BMW
Motorsport Junior of the Year’ in 2014, is a regular driver for BMW
Team RLL in the IMSA series in the USA and is also a recognised GT
specialist. He will share the cockpit of the #82 BMW M8 GTE with Félix
da Costa and Farfus at Le Mans.
BMW Team MTEK will attend the official Le Mans test day on Sunday
2nd June. The race week begins on Sunday 9th
June with the technical scrutineering in the town centre. The 24-hour
race gets underway at 15:00 on Saturday 15th June.