BMW

BMW's story at the 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of a long, winding quest for outright victory. A presence at La Sarthe across many eras, the Bavarian marque first shone there by indirect routes: the iconic Art Cars of the 1970s, painted by Calder and Stella, turned its racers into cultural landmarks, while its V12 engine powered the McLaren F1 GTR to overall victory in 1995. Glory as a constructor in its own right came in 1999. The V12 LMR, a spectacular open roadster developed by BMW Motorsport with Williams, won in the hands of Joachim Winkelhock, Pierluigi Martini and Yannick Dalmas, at the end of a chaotic race marked by the Mercedes CLR's airborne accidents. That victory — achieved in the very year BMW was preparing its Formula 1 return — remains the propeller brand's only outright win, and one of the most singular of the modern era, as BMW withdrew from prototypes immediately afterwards. The decades that followed belonged to GT racing: the M3 GTR, Z4 and M8 GTE campaigned across IMSA and the WEC, stacking up class successes and keeping Munich present in endurance racing. The return to the premier class came in 2024 with the M Hybrid V8, an LMDh prototype run in the World Endurance Championship by Belgian squad WRT, the marque's long-standing partner. After two seasons of learning and steady progress, BMW M Motorsport continues in the FIA WEC in 2026, fielding two M Hybrid V8s in Hypercar alongside the M4 GT3 in LMGT3, where the brand remains a benchmark. Twenty-seven years on from the V12 LMR, the ambition is now explicit: to put Munich back on the top step at Le Mans and prove that 1999 was not a quirk of history, but the first chapter of a record still being written. The programme also extends to IMSA, where the M Hybrid V8 races in the GTP class, making BMW one of the few manufacturers committed on both sides of the Atlantic.

• Country : DEU
• Founded : 1916
• Le Mans wins : 1
• First win : 1999
• Last win : 1999