Connor De Phillippi has suggested his initial spin into the gravel led to an unforeseen effect on the car’s balance which accompanied his contact into the concrete barrier.
Last Sunday’s IMSA SportsCar Weekend at the famed Road America venue was a challenging weekend for the BMW M Team RLL as both GTP entries retired for the first time this year.
Whilst the #24 managed only 55 laps before reliability issues put a stop to their running, the #25 did not pass the opening green flag due to an off-track excursion on the formation lap, followed by contact into the concrete wall at Turn 11 which stopped the BMW shortly afterwards.
De Phillippi, who was driving the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 at the time, explained: “In the formation lap, unfortunately, I spun while trying to warm up the cold tyres and ended up in the gravel.
“The marshals pulled me out, and I was able to continue. It seems that the action significantly altered the balance of my car, which I didn’t notice at first.
“It was only when I had overtaken all the GTD vehicles and went through ‘The Kink’ at full speed for the first time that I suddenly lost the rear of the car and hit the wall.
“Fortunately, I’m okay, but I feel really sorry for the entire team. However, I’m confident that we will come out stronger from this experience.”
The #25 entry inherited their first GTP win at the 6 Hours of the Glen, and De Phillippi and teammate Nick Yelloly secured third place at the Chevrolet Grand Prix, which meant they held second in championship heading into Road America.
The fight still remains close, and they only fall to third on 2098 points, although just 45 points ahead of the nearest three cars behind them in the standings.
Andreas Roos, Head of BMW M Motorsport, added: “That was a very disappointing race for BMW M Team RLL and BMW M Motorsport.
“Losing the (#25) car shortly after the start, which was in second place in the championship, is tough.
“The GTP prototypes are particularly challenging to drive on cold tyres, as we have seen throughout the season.
“Such things can happen, even though it’s very frustrating. That’s racing.
“The #24 car had an issue with its electronics. We still need to analyse exactly what happened.
“Although we are all disappointed today, we will work hard from tomorrow onwards to get back to our proven strength at the next race in Indianapolis.
“We had a good test there and are accordingly confident.”
Their debut GTP season has not been without its struggles as BMW sit last in the GTP Manufacturers’ Championship Standings.
Following a positive outing at the recent Indianapolis test, their efforts remain on ironing out reliability issues in order to contest for podiums at the final two races of 2023, the latter of which is the grueling 10-hour-long Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.
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