BMW and RLL to end IMSA partnership in 2026

Written by Ghazlan Atqiya Firmansyah

The RLL team with their BMW M Hybrid V8s in Sebring | Credit: BMW Group

BMW and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL)'s factory relationship that started in 2009 would come to an end following the conclusion of the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship.

The Belgian team WRT could likely inherit the GTP program and become the sole campaigner of the M Hybrid V8, as they currently run BMW's Hypercar program in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). But another question arises whether the next operator of the GTP will contest the full season or only for the Endurance Cup rounds.

BMW and RLL's partnership started in the former American Le Mans Series (ALMS), where they took the ALMS GT2 Teams' championship title in 2010 before taking both the Drivers' and Teams' championships in 2011, which included a victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring with the M3 GT2.

With the Z4 GTE in 2013, RLL enjoyed continued success with victories in Long Beach and Lime Rock. The team continued to campaign the car in the 2015 United SportsCar Championship season and took victory in Long Beach once more and in Lone Star Le Mans.

RLL ran the M8 GTE and took back-to-back GTLM Daytona victories in 2019 and 2020. They followed this up with a second 2020 victory in Atlanta. RLL was soon selected to run the M Hybrid V8 in the GTP class in 2023.

The No.24 M8 GTE that took the victory in the GTLM class of the 2020 24 Hours of Daytona | Credit: BMW Group

RLL's debut GTP season saw them take back-to-back second places in Sebring and Long Beach and another podium finish in Ontario and Indianapolis. The team was awarded the victory of the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen after the winning Porsche failed its post-race technical inspection.

2024 was a difficult year, but RLL managed to take a 1–2 victory in Indianapolis as its only victory and podium of the year. RLL got four consecutive pole positions from Daytona until Laguna Seca in 2025, but so far unable to convert any of them into victory this year. They stood third in Long Beach and Laguna Seca.

BMW and RLL still have three more chances to end their partnership on a high note with next month's race in Road America, Indianapolis in September and the Petit Le Mans season finale in October.