Pole-sitter Dries Vanthoor explained how the red flag added pressure in his pursuit of the top spot for the 12 Hours of Sebring race start.

Vanthoor claimed a back-to-back pole position after the 24 Hours of Daytona season-opener, having taken the top spot for the second round on the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship schedule.

Jack Aitken’s #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R was the cause of an early red flag during the session after the GTP entrant broke down.

“Yeah, a bit because it’s the only shot,” replied Vanthoor in the post-qualifying press conference when asked about the impact of the red flag.

“Normally on a normal qualifying session you maybe get two chances.

“Now you only had one. It makes a bit more pressure to get that lap together. It makes it a bit more difficult.

“But yeah, it makes me a bit, how I would say, fired up or nervous, fired up at the same time.

“Sebring is the first time for me here, so I’m really enjoying the track.

“It’s something different to what I’ve been used to, especially with all the bumps.”

Vanthoor set a fastest lap time of 1:47.091 in his #24 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 and only Tom Blomqvist was closest to his benchmark albeit just 0.025 seconds off.

He claimed pole position having undertaken only two representative fast laps as opposed to the planned three or four without the red flag.

Another opportunity has opened for a BMW’s second IMSA GTP victory after the Belgian took his maiden pole at Daytona.

For the 73rd 12 Hours of Sebring, Blomqvist’s #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 will join Vanthoor on the front row as both Porsche Penske 963s start on the second row.

READ MORE: BMW’s Dries Vanthoor on pole for 12 Hours of Sebring

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BMW’s Sheldon van der Linde was fastest in the second free practice session as part of the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s 12 Hours of Sebring.

The South African completed a 1:47.884 in the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 to put the Rahal Letterman Lanigan names at the top.

FP2 ran far smoother in comparison to the heavily disrupted FP1 session.

As a result, teams made the most of a productive 90 minutes to gain data and make their set-up adjustments for the race on Saturday 15 March.

Despite Mathieu Jaminet’s limited running in the #6 Porsche Penske 963 GTP during FP1, the #6 joined the #7 Porsche on looking strong as a team on pace.

#60 Meyer Shank Acura ARX-06 GTP driver Tom Blomqvist held the top spot for most of the session until S. van der Linde surpassed Blomqvist in the final 15 minutes.

With marginally under five minutes remaining, race control called a red flag when Brendon Iribe’s #70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 endured an impact at Turn 13, possibly involving the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth who simultaneously registered as stopped on the timing screen.

So Blomqvist took second position in the end with a quickest lap time of 1:47.998 in front of the fastest of the Porsches, the #6, and Matt Campbell’s 1:48.850.

Felipe Nasr’s 1:48.921 set the #6 Porsche in fourth position as Dries Vanthoor rounded out the top-five with a 1:49.024 in the #24 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 GTP.

TDS Racing tops LMP2, ‘Rexy’ quickest GT car

In the LMP2 category, Steven Thomas was fastest for the #11 TDS Racing Oreca 07 team after he completed a swift lap time of 1:50.961.

Era Motorsport’s Kaku Ohta put the #18 Oreca in second place after a 1:51.151 lap time, followed in third by Dane Cameron’s #99 AO Racing Oreca and his 1:51.296.

Ben Hanley finished fourth in the #2 United Autosports USA Oreca (1:51.386) as #88 AF Corse Oreca driver Nicklas Nielsen took fifth place with a 1:51.566.

In the combined GT classification, reigning GTD Pro champions AO Racing and their #77 Porsche 911 GT3.R was quickest owing to Laurin Heinrich’s 1:59.898.

Korthoff Competition took second with their #32 Mercedes-AMG GT3 but were fastest in the GTD category after Kenton Koch set a 2:00.300 lap time.

Mike Skeen put the #021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari in third place after his 2:00.520 as the Inception Ferrari (#70) followed in fourth position with Ollie Millroy’s 2:00.954.

Elliott Skeer set an exact lap time of 2:01.000 in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche to finish fifth in the combined GT classification.

See here for the full FP2 classification. The third and final free practice session will start at 19:45 local or 23:45 UTC.

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Reports indicate that German manufacturer BMW Motorrad is looking to buy Austrian motorbike manufacturer KTM.

KTM is set to have an important meeting with creditors on Tuesday to vote on its restructuring. If the vote is approved, the marque will pay back 30% of its €2-plus billion debts by the end of May.

This important vote could result in KTM declaring bankruptcy if the restructuring plan fails to go ahead.

The Bavarian giants reportedly want to buy KTM but reportedly want to take the brand out of Austria.

BMW want to operate research and development at its Motorrad site in Munich, Germany while producing its bikes in India. The Indian Bajaj Group already manufactures KTM motorbikes.

The report from oe24 indicates that this plan would result in all 4500 members of staff facing unemployment by the end of 2025.

As a result of this action should it go ahead, €225 million of Austrian taxpayers’ insolvency fund would have to financially compensate the members of staff who would be made redundant. This could amount to up to €50,000 per person per year.

This news could see the introduction of BMW in MotoGP after the Bavarian brand had previously expressed interest in joining the series in 2027.

Previously, BMW acquired Suzuki’s team data when the Japanese marque was in the series.

BMW currently races the in the WorldSBK series and won its first two-wheeled title last year with Turkish rider Toprak Razgatlioglu, who one day stated he wanted to ride in MotoGP.

READ MORE – Creditors approve Pierer Industrie AG restructuring plan

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World champion Toprak Razgatlioglu has threatened to quit the WorldSBK championship after Ducati dominated the opening round at Phillip Island.

Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega completed a hat trick of wins while the manufacturer scored eight out of a possible nine podiums over the weekend. 

The Turkish rider was the sole non-Ducati to make the rostrum but suggested he will reconsider his future in the championship if this pattern continues.

“Last year, yes, [Nicolo] Bulega [was strong], this year I’m not surprised that he is still fast and Alvaro [Bautista] also not bad,” Razgatlioglu told WorldSBK.com after Race 2.

“But, this year, all Ducatis are on the front, this is not normal, [it’s] why I say Superbike is almost like a ‘Ducati Cup’.

“I hope not to continue going like this because everyone is not enjoying like this.

“If Superbike continues like this in the future, I’m not thinking to race anymore here.”

Razgatlioglu: ‘I’m never happy in the first WorldSBK race of the season’

The Turkish rider had a difficult weekend in Phillip Island after taking his podium in Race 1, he could only manage 11th in the Superpole Race and retired in the final race of the weekend. 

Razgatlioglu explained that a number of technical problems amounted to the issues in Sunday’s races. 

“For me, especially the Superpole Race was not really good at the start. I feel some brake problem and we are lucky I didn’t hit someone and nobody crashed,” Razgatlioglu said.

“For Race 2, we say it’s better to ride yesterday’s bike because I feel we are really improving and grip is much better than before and we started to use yesterday’s bike.

“But, in the race, we see there’s some technical problem, and after I didn’t continue the race.”

He added: “I’m never starting very happy the first races in the season. Also last year, and two years ago – always I’m starting very strange, [and] this is the same.

“But I’m just focused on the next race because finally we are going to Europe and I’m just starting to fight with all the Ducatis.

“We have a long break, almost one month. I will keep working and try to come back stronger.”

The world champion admitted BMW need to find something ahead of testing before the second round at Portimao. 

“We have a test there, we need the test,” the Turkish rider said.

“Two days for me are very important because we are trying to improve the bike and we are still not 100 percent.

“But everyone is pushing hard, I know, and we will see because these two days for me are very important.”

READ MORE – Toprak Razgatlioglu shares MotoGP and WorldSBK ‘dreams’ beyond 2025

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Robin Frijns was fastest for BMW WRT in the fourth and final FIA World Endurance Championship Prologue pre-season test session.

The final four hours of the 2025 WEC Prologue took place in the evening at the Lusail International Circuit which will host the season-opener next week.

After the disruption from yesterday and this morning’s session, Hypercar and LMGT3 teams valued all the time available during green flag running.

The first FCY was deployed for debris on the exit kerb of Turn 15, one hour into the session.

It showcased drivers exploring track limits as much as possible with some punished with minor debris breaking away from their car.

Heart of Racing’s Ross Gunn briefly spun his #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar at T4 which triggered the third FCY whilst the team manager and engineer were immediately summoned to race control.

After a brief stop, Gunn continued again with a black and orange (mechanical) flag shown so he pitted.

A 13-minute red flag ensued with two hours remaining due to debris between T12-13.

The session continued with a long green-flag run with the exception of Riccardo Pera having a brief spin at T10 in his #92 Manthey Porsche 911 LMGT3.R without further drama.

During the final minutes, the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 of Simon Mann stopped on the left-hand side at T9 with yellow flags subsequently deployed.

BMW quickest in 2025 WEC Prologue

Robin Frijns set the fastest lap time of the Prologue meeting, a 1:38.971, in his #20 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 Hypercar.

Sebastien Bourdais’ #38 JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar was closely behind in second with his 1:39.116 lap time.

The yellow privateer-funded #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P claimed third place owing to Robert Kubica’s 1:39.141.

WRT’s #15 BMW took fourth position after Dries Vanthoor set a 1:39.253 lap time with the other JOTA Cadillac, the #12, rounding out a narrowly separated top-five with Alex Lynn’s 1:39.296 lap time.

In the LMGT3 category, AF Corse held 1-2 positions with the pair of Ferrari 296 LMGT3s’ fastest lap times separated by just 0.020.

Mann set the fastest lap time in the category by the end of the Prologue, a 1:54.790 in his #21 Ferrari.

Francesco Castellacci drove the #54 Ferrari to a 1:54.810 lap time, followed by Zacharie Robichon‘s #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 EVO with his 1:54.939.

Jonny Edgar set a 1:54.957 lap time to put TF Sport’s #33 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R in fourth position.

Finn Gehristz rounded out the top-five finishers in the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F LMGT3 with a 1:54.987.

Action for the Qatar 1812 km will commence next Wednesday 26 February with Free Practice 1 from 11.30am local time or 8.30am UTC.

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Defending WorldSBK champion Toprak Razgatlioglu admitted he is “not 100% ready” ahead of the season opener in Phillip Island.

After recording BMW’s first championship on two-wheels in 2024, the Turkish rider is looking to become the fourth rider to win three or more WorldSBK titles.

Razgatlioglu’s pre-season campaign hasn’t gone as he’d hoped, missing the European test in Jerez due to an injured index finger sustained from a Motocross accident.

Despite recovering from this specific injury, he crashed on both days of testing in Phillip Island, leaving the Turkish rider feeling unequipped on setup for the upcoming season opener.

He avoided major injuries from both crashes, but he admitted he can ride “without problems”.

“After the crash, especially on the second day, we started off well because our main target is to find the right setup for the race,” he said to WorldSBK.

“We finally found something, but we’re not 100% ready yet. After the crash, we lost two hours of riding, and the afternoon brought some rain, so we only got the last eight minutes to ride the bike.

“We found a few things, but we’re still not 100%, so we’ll see how it goes on Friday. The weekend is really important, and we’re doing our best, as always.

“I feel the same as before, but I’m continuing to ride the bike. We’re racers, and it’s crucial to keep riding.

“This is an important weekend because it’s the first race of the 2025 season. Even though I’m still not 100%, after a couple of laps, the pain isn’t too bad, and I can still ride without problems.

“We also did some good lap times on race tires, so I’m a bit excited for the first race!”

Toprak Razgatlioglu unable to provide reasons behind ‘very strange’ Monday crash

Razgatlioglu’s biggest crash arrived on Day 1, where he was catapulted off his Bavarian machine at Turn 6.

He shared that he was unable to provide any reasons for the crash, and neither he nor his team understood the root cause.

“For me, it was a very strange crash. We checked the data. I’ve got 39% gas and I highsided because the traction wasn’t working there.

“I spoke with my electronics guy. He checked why it wasn’t working and he didn’t know. I’m lucky nothing is broken but I feel pain everywhere, especially in my hand. 

“Now it isn’t bad, but I need a little bit more. I saw the picture when I was flying! I immediately tried to cover my hand.

“The finger isn’t bad; I feel a little bit of pain. I’m still riding the bike; this is the important thing.

“I think, for the race weekend, I’ll feel much better because we have three or four days. It looks like everything is going positively, only this morning was a little bit strange.”

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Corvette’s Tommy Milner was displeased with BMW’s Augusto Farfus, who blocked him in his fight to retain the lead with the #1 BMW late at Daytona.

Speaking after he completed his stint, Milner said: “That’s not what IMSA is about, sports car racing is about.

“First and foremost, the driver should be embarrassed, the team should be embarrassed… with that kind of racing.

“It is team racing here but not like that.

“They have a car that’s laps down out of the race whose only job is basically only to help the teammate, and not like that.

“Lap after lap, blocking, blocking, blocking, waiting for me … It’s disappointing.

GTD Pro class leader in the 22nd racing hour of the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s 24 Hours of Daytona, Milner, fended off the #1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO driven by Connor de Phillippi.

De Phillippi tried to pass the #4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R having used the side-draft and head-on slipstream to keep within distance of the yellow machine.

The pair came across the #48 BMW of Farfus, who was 57 laps down due to earlier misfortune in the race.

Blue flags notified Farfus of the pair behind although he was not obligated to surrender his track position with immediacy as per IMSA etiquette.

Given the existing challenge for a GT driver to overtake another GT car under racing circumstances, race control noted and penalised Farfus with a drive-through penalty for blocking Milner for providing an advantage to their #1 team-mate car.

Milner on the repercussions of his clash

“I don’t have an issue with #1 car. Those guys are in their own race. It’s just the sister car that’s out there just to be a nuisance.

“Poor sportsmanship, poor driving, just embarrassing on their part.

“… In the end what hurt us the most was to continue to stay out after they had a blocking penalty to block more.

“Whoever was in the #48 really slowed me up in (Turn) Three and got me a little bit crossed up and put me into the #1.

“The car isn’t totally right for sure,” he alluded to the rear-end damage to his #4 Corvette, “There’s lasting damage from all of that for sure, not to mention the problems we had with the bumper.

“… It’s a shame for us to work that hard to put us into contention to have a good result and for it to be spoiled like that was pretty pathetic.”

BMW’s statement from Augusto Farfus added: “The situation with the Corvette and our sister car was very difficult.

“My intention was to support my teammate in the sister car in the fight for victory.

“I was aware that it was hard racing.

“The situation that led to the collision between the Corvette and Connor De Phillippi behind me was very unfortunate – but I had nothing to do with it directly.

“I stayed on my inside line.”

Milner and his co-drivers Nico Varrone and Nicky Catsburg finished in seventh place by the end with the sibling #3 Corvette on the GTD Pro podium, splitting the two Mustangs.

READ MORE: Ford’s Dennis Olsen wins against Corvette for victory at Daytona 24H

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BMW’s Head of M Motorsport, Andreas Roos, was confident on the potential in the new BMW M4 GT3 EVO’s first 24 Hours of Daytona.

He commented on the updated M4’s performance in a pre-race press conference for the IMSA SportsCar Championship season-opener.

“I think to be honest, a very good start.

“From this year on, we have the EVO car of our very successful M4 GT3… It actually had two races this year, two wins.

“So we hope we can continue something here in Daytona.

“But I think also there, I mean we have with Paul Miller Racing, in Turner – two teams which have also great history in the championship and [a] very successful one lap time from Dan Harper with P3 in the GTD Pro.

“So I think also there it shows that our M4 GT3 EVO car is clearly also there to fight for good results.”

Paul Miller Racing (PMR) and Turner Motorsport have both fielded the BMW M4 package in 2022 since it succeeded the M6 GT3.

PMR have since won their second GTD title owing to a dominant 2023 campaign followed in 2024 by the Endurance Cup GTD title.

Having stepped up two BMWs in the GTD Pro class, BMW factory driver Dan Harper put the #48 entrant on the second row in GTD Pro whilst the other BMWs start further back.

More importantly, BMW have shown fair race pace and reliable running and seek redemption from last year when a wheel nut issue halted PMR’s chances for a GTD Pro victory, even though they took third place.

Their two-car presence puts them on identical numbers with the two Ford Mustangs and Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs and are hoping to control the class with their increased presence, meanwhile Turner Motorsport are seeking victory in the GTD category.

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Marco Wittmann was the quickest overall driver for the #25 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 GTP in the third session of the IMSA Roar Before the 24 test.

The German emerged on top of the leaderboard in the 90-minute test session at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.

Track action continued into the third of seven sessions as part of the Roar Before the 24 (Hours of Daytona) pre-event test, of the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

Much of the session ran smoothly with Turn 7 at the focus of teams and drivers.

More specifically, T7 is the left-hander which returns drivers back onto the circuit’s famous banking to the third Speedway corner.

Drivers explored track limits as usual although there were no major incidents or disruptions, apart from a scheduled full course caution and a brief red flag to clear debris at T7.

Wittmann set a fastest lap time of 1:36.798 in the #25 RLL-run BMW.

After Wittmann and his benchmark, second place went to the #93 Meyer Shank Acura ARX-06 of Nick Yelloly (1:36.928) narrowly ahead of Matt Campbell’s #6 Porsche Penske 963 (1:36.980).

Riley tops LMP2, Lamborghinis at the front in GT field

In the all-Oreca 07 LMP2 category, Felipe Fraga put the #74 Riley at the top with his 1:40.108 lap time.

Peugeot Hypercar driver Malthe Jakobsen claimed second position in the #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR machine after he set a 1:40.141.

Ben Hanley claimed third spot in the #2 United Autosports USA entrant with a 1:40.348 lap time.

In the combined GT field of the GTD and GTD Pro categories, the top-three were all taken by Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2s.

Forte Racing’s #78 GTD machine was in first place owing to a 1:48.036 set by Lamborghini Squadra Corse factory driver Franck Perera.

Danny Formal put the #45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini (GTD) in second after a 1:48.192, followed by the GTD Pro class leader Pfaff Motorsports’ and Andrea Caldarelli’s 1:48.221 in the #9 machine.

The second-placed GTD Pro competitor was seventh in the combined GT classification, that was the #91 Trackhouse by TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

Reigining LMP2 Daytona winner Connor Zilisch set a 1:48.471 lap time only three-thousandths ahead of Davide Rigon’s #81 Dragonspeed Ferrari 296 GT3 (1:48.474).

See here for the full list of results from Session 3. The next session will commence from 3.10pm local / 8.10pm UK time.

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BMW M works driver Dan Harper is set for his IMSA SportsCar Championship debut as Paul Miller Racing (PMR) step up their GTD Pro line-up for 2025.

The reigning GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup Bronze champion and 2023 British GT champion accomplished both feats in BMW machinery.

BMW juniors Harper and Max Hesse and PMR long-timer Neil Verhagen are now official BMW M works drivers, having previously shared a class victory together at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring in 2020.

PMR are two-time IMSA GTD champions and have increased their presence for 2025 with two BMW M4 GT3 EVOs.

Bryan Sellers departed PMR at the end of the 2024 season so Verhagen has stepped up from his Endurance Cup role into a full-time duty with Madison Snow in the #1 BMW. Connor De Phillippi and new arrival Kelvin van der Linde will assist as Endurance Cup drivers.

Full-season drivers Hesse and Harper will co-drive the #48 BMW with the help of Jesse Krohn and Augusto Farfus for the Endurance Cup campaign.

“We’re really excited to have such a successful lineup of BMW factory guys in our cars this year,” said Paul Miller, team owner.

“Of course, working with Madison since 2016 and adding Neil to the team last year is a known quantity that we know can succeed.

“And adding Dan and Max to the team is a really exciting prospect to have for our program.

“It’s really incredible to see what these young guys have accomplished with BMW over the last few years and we’re hoping to add to that list of success in the GTD Pro class.

“The competition is always tough in IMSA, but I know with these drivers we have a great chance of fighting at the front.”

PMR as outgoing GTD Pro Endurance Cup champions

Whilst PMR were not able to follow-up their dominant 2023 campaign with the 2024 GTD Pro title, they achieved Endurance Cup glory during their maiden season in the category.

The 2025 IMSA season is soon approaching its kick-off at the 24 Hours of Daytona on 25-26 January, followed by the second round – also on the Endurance Cup calendar – the 12 Hours of Sebring on 15 March.

“It really is an incredible stable of drivers we have the opportunity to work with with BMW,” added PMR team manager, Mitchell Simmons.

“We’re the reigning Michelin Endurance Cup champions and I know everyone is looking to defend that title in 2025.

“Stepping up to the GTD Pro class has not been easy, and we know that moving to two cars will be an added challenge, but this team has proven time and time again that they can rise to the occasion and I’m really excited to see what we can do in 2025.”

BMW of North America Motorsport and Customer Racing Manager, Adam McGregor, concluded: “Last year the Team took on the challenge of stepping up to GTD Pro and in their first year of GTD Pro competition they took home the Michelin Endurance Cup.

“This was a mega achievement and for this year PMR is again pushing this program to the next level with the two-car effort.

“With a full-factory driver line-up and two new M4 GT3 EVOs my confidence is high for 2025.”

READ MORE: Valentino Rossi amid WRT LMGT3 line-up for second WEC season

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