Laguna Seca. The impressive streak in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC) continued at Laguna Seca (USA). Dries Vanthoor (BEL) in the BMW M Team RLL #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 once again was the fastest man in qualifying. He claimed his and teammate Philipp Eng’s (AUT) fourth pole position in as many races this season. In the race itself, the #24 car battled for victory right up to the end and secured third place after a dramatic finish. This marks the second podium of the IMSA season for Vanthoor/Eng, following their result at Long Beach (USA). In the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8, Marco Wittmann (GER) and Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) also delivered a strong performance, taking fourth place – their best result of the season so far.

At the start of the two-hour and 40-minute race, Vanthoor maintained the lead and held a several-second advantage over the field for the first 50 minutes. Only when lapped traffic began to factor in were the chasing cars able to close the gap, kicking off a tight battle for the top three. After a late first pit stop, Eng rejoined the race in third place with car #24. Both he and later Vanthoor managed to stay close to the leading two Porsches. In a tense and uninterrupted final phase without any full course yellows to neutralise the field, the outcome remained wide open. Vanthoor was only a few tenths of a second behind in third place, waiting for his opportunity to attack. In a dramatic fight for the win, he was touched in the final corner and spun off the track. Nonetheless, Vanthoor was able to get the #24 car going again and cross the finish line in third.

In the sister car #25, van der Linde and Wittmann also confirmed the competitiveness of the BMW M Hybrid V8. Starting from sixth on the grid, they pursued an alternate strategy and made an early first pit stop, which initially dropped them further down the field. However, after around 90 minutes of racing, Wittmann climbed from seventh to fourth within just a few laps. The #25 ultimately crossed the line right behind its sibling car, rounding off a strong showing for BMW M Team RLL with fourth place.

The BMW M4 GT3 EVO crews faced a tough race at Laguna Seca. In the GTD-Pro class, Dan Harper (GBR) and Max Hesse (GER) took fifth place in the #48 car from Paul Miller Racing. Their teammates Madison Snow and Neil Verhagen (both USA) were tenth in the #1 car. In the GTD class, the #96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO from Turner Motorsport, driven by Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher (both USA), finished ninth.

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