Philipp Eng, Dries Vanthoor in No. 24 for Season; Sheldon van der Linde, Marco Wittmann in No. 25
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – BMW M Motorsport has assembled the group of drivers that will wheel the pair of BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8s in the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The lineup features one full-season holdover from this year along with three others who each have experience in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) car.
Philipp Eng returns in the No. 24 BMW, which he raced to victory with co-driver Jesse Krohn at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in September. In 2025, Eng’s full-season partner will be Dries Vanthoor, who was one of the endurance drivers added to the No. 24 roster for the Rolex 24 At Daytona last January.
The No. 25 BMW will feature a new full-time lineup in 2025, with Sheldon van der Linde and Marco Wittmann taking the reins. Both drivers competed in three IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races for BMW M Team RLL in 2023, with van der Linde part of the No. 25 entry that finished second at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Wittman moves to the WeatherTech Championship after driving the full 2024 season for BMW in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Hypercar class.
In addition, Formula 1 veteran Kevin Magnussen was named to join Eng and Vanthoor in the No. 24 BMW for the endurance races at Daytona, Sebring and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Raffaele Marciello will be the No. 24’s fourth driver at the Rolex 24.
Robin Frijns will perform the same duties as Magnussen, but in the No. 25 BMW at Daytona, Sebring and Michelin Raceway, with Rene Rast the fourth driver in the car for the Rolex 24.
Vanthoor and van der Linde will pull double duty for BMW, driving in all WeatherTech Championship and WEC races in 2025 except one – the WEC event at Spa, Belgium, that conflicts with the WeatherTech Championship race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in May.
“We have high goals for the upcoming season with our BMW M Hybrid V8 prototypes,” said Andreas Roos, head of BMW M Motorsport. “To achieve these, we are striving for optimizations in all areas. For our driver lineup, this means focusing and specializing. The more time our drivers spend behind the wheel of the BMW M Hybrid V8, the better they will get to know its handling and the more feedback they can provide to our engineers.
“The goal is to intensify the development of the BMW M Hybrid V8 in collaboration with the specialists at the teams and at BMW M Motorsport. It also helps us in this regard that some drivers compete in both championships, thereby further improving the exchange of information. We are convinced that this way joining our forces will bring us advantages.
“The fact that the season starts in January with the 24-hour race at Daytona is very beneficial for us,” Roos added. “This allows us to have all eight drivers together for an extended period early in the season, helping us to optimally synchronize with each other.”