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HomeRacingPorsche, BMW raise concerns over high voltage problems ahead of Daytona 24

Porsche, BMW raise concerns over high voltage problems ahead of Daytona 24


Porsche and BMW have expressed concerns over the reliability of the high-voltage element of the one-make LMDH hybrid system at this weekend’s Daytona 24 Hours.

Their apprehension comes as a number of issues affected the LMDH machinery during pre-event roar testing last weekend and the opening two days of the IMSA SportsCar Championship at Daytona this week and forced parts to be replaced.

BMW M Motorsport boss Andreas Ross described the problems that prevented the #25 Rahal M Hybrid V8 from setting a qualifying time on Thursday as “a bit of a concern”.

“Obviously it’s not what you want in qualifying for the car to stay on the track,” he said.

“In the end you always feel better when there are no problems in practice and testing.”

Porsche 963 program boss Urs Kuratle said: “I hope it’s not a pandemic.

“I don’t know the total number of batteries replaced but it is definitely very high, that’s for sure.

“From a reliability standpoint, it feels like we’ve taken a step back compared to last year.”

#25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8: Marco Wittmann, Sheldon van der Linde, Robin Frijns, René Rast

Photo by: Andreas Biel

porsche penske motorsport Managing director Jonathan Deguid said the issues meant the German manufacturer’s factory team was “not sitting here with a good vague feeling about the race”.

Porsche revealed that on Friday afternoon it had met with representatives from other LMDH manufacturers, IMSA and Bosch Motorsport and Fortescue Zero (formerly WAE Technologies), which produce motor generator units (MGUs) and high-voltage battery components respectively. . Typical hybrid system.

Kuratley explained that “a huge effort is being made at (Bosch & Fortescue’s) track and home bases here in Europe” to try to overcome the problems.

Deguid said: “We are doing everything we can to make sure we understand the problem and what we can control, trying to work with suppliers to get their input on what is causing the problem and “Getting feedback, trying to tick as many boxes as we can.”

Manufacturers have not revealed how many incidents of the HV problem there have been so far, but Deguid said in Porsche’s case it was “more than one”.

The first incident appears to have occurred last Friday in the second session of Roar when the #7 Porsche 963 LMDH stopped on track Felipe Nasr On the wheel.

Customer 963S run by JDC-Miller Motorsports proton contest It is understood that he also faced HV related problems during Roar.

BMW is believed to have experienced HV problems in both of its cars driven by Rahal, although it is unclear whether Acura, Cadillac and Lamborghini are suffering from it.

Deguid revealed that the issues were “not always the same problem”.

“It’s not tracked back to a certain batch, a certain production operation or a certain set of conditions,” he said.

Kuratle stressed that the finger of blame should not be pointed at the battery.

“It is difficult to define a battery, where does it begin and where does it end? It’s an HV issue,” he explained.

It is unclear why hybrid issues have arisen at this point as the components had proven reliable in its second season of the GTP era in 2024.

Deguid explained that no updates have been made for the new season, but acknowledged that “there are some small changes that are normal”.

“There are some new pieces, a (different) production batch,” he said.

IMSA has been contacted for comment.

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