The timing of BMW’s return to the Le Mans 24 Hours in pursuit of overall victory, a quarter of a century on from the V12 LMR’s triumph, is a timely one. But its M Hybrid V8 LMDh isn’t in its maiden year of competition like the machinery from Alpine and Lamborghini also racing in the World Endurance Championship’s Hypercar class for the first time in 2024. This is year two for the German car developed in conjunction with Dallara Automobili: it already has a season of full competition under its belt in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in North America.

When BMW announced its intention to return to top-line sports car racing in June 2021 it stressed that in ’23 it would be racing its new LMDh in IMSA and IMSA only. Officially it was coy about its wider aspiration, though perhaps its intent was clear from the beginning when its move was revealed on the personal Instagram account of Markus Flasch, then head of the BMW M brand. “We are back! Daytona 2023” ran the perfunctory message. But those words were laid over an image of its 1999 Le Mans winner (on stage in an empty concert hall).

Racing on two fronts wasn’t an option in year one of the programme given the timeline involved – BMW needed to have the car up and running by the middle of 2022. It achieved that with a shakedown in April and at the same time took the lid of its WEC entry. WRT was announced as its factory team just three months later.

The Belgian squad had already proved that it could hit the ground running in the WEC. A team that had won everything in the GT3 arena with Audi claimed the LMP2 title at the first time of asking in 2021. BMW knows that there are still steps to take with the M Hybrid, a car that was definitely fourth of four in the LMDh pecking order in IMSA last year.

You won’t get anyone involved at BMW to predict victory in June, but it is insistent that it is going to Le Mans expecting to be in the mix.