The People Behind The Machine
Preparing for the 2018 WEC season
The entire BMW M Motorsport team, BMW Team MTEK and the BMW WEC drivers have completed an intensive and strenuous programme. The focus was not just on the development of the new BMW M8 GTE - the people behind the machine have also been hard at work, meticulously preparing for the FIA WEC entry.
After four years in the DTM, BMW Team MTEK was tasked with preparing the BMW M Motorsport works entry in the FIA WEC at the end of 2016. The whole of 2017 was devoted to development and testing work,
focussing on the new BMW M8 GTE. The FIA WEC is not just a challenge from a technical point of view, the endurance races and most notably the 24 Hours of Le Mans, pose special challenges for each and every member of the team.
The principles applied to the team also hold true for the drivers. The four regular BMW WEC drivers Nick Catsburg (NED), Augusto Farfus (BRA), António Félix da Costa (POR) and Martin Tomczyk (GER) took part in a collective fitness camp at Formula Medicine in Italy as part of their preparation. This featured physical and mental training to give them the ability to perform at the highest level, even in the exceptional surroundings of a 24hour race.
The 30 hour tests with the BMW M8 GTE represented the most extreme joint training sessions for the team and the drivers. All participants simulated the complete schedule for a 24-hour marathon – including preparation. The pit stops played a particularly important part and remains part of the team's daily training routine.
Teamwork is just as vital during preparation as it is at the circuit. Nowhere else in motorsport it is so important for team and driver to act as one unit as in endurance racing. All four drivers have already experienced this at previous marathon races. In 2010, Farfus won the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring (GER) and Catsburg triumphed at the 24 Hours of Spafrancorchamps in 2015. Tomczyk and Félix da Costa have also competed for BMW M Motorsport on the Nordschleife. “When you are involved in development from the word go, you work closely with the team and develop the car together - that creates a strong bond,” said Tomczyk. “All the drivers have been together at all the tests and we have met up away from the track as well. I think that we make a pretty strong unit.”