6/7 BMW V12 LM98 Presensation

// This is a direct reupload of the post I made for Instagram and Facebook

BMW V12LM98 Presentation Part 6/7

Thomas Bscher’s 001/98 returned to Le Mans for a third attempt. This time, it featured a striking white and red livery.

With the dreaded pre-qualifying sessions now gone, 2000 marked the debut of the Test Day format we know today, but it kept the early schedule, as it still took place two months before the race. Performance wasn’t the goal, but reliability was and the team passed the test successfully and got its ticket for Le Mans.

Qualifying was a bit underwhelming, with the car securing 21st place, behind some of the LMP675 car and only slightly ahead of the GTS class cars.
The start of the race was quite puzzling, by the end of the formation lap, the car entered the Ford Chicane in 21st but exited it in 29th. 🥴
Saturday brought sunny and hot conditions that quickly took a toll on the field. Despite the early setback, the BMW climbed to 8th place after five hours and held that position firmly. However, at midnight, a clutch change became necessary, dropping the car to 23rd. An hour later, a spin at Indianapolis caused further delays.
The team fought back to reach 19th with 14h remaining, but trouble struck again, and by 7:40am, the car had fallen to 32nd when Jean-Marc Gounon then lost control at Arnage, hitting the tire wall. Though he managed to return to the pits, the damage put an end to the race

The car’s final, lesser known outing took place at the SportRacing World Cup event at the Nürburgring in September. Starting the very wet race in 8th, it endured an attritional battle as numerous cars spun out. The BMW held on until an engine issue, just past the halfway mark, forced its retirement. This marked the end of the racing life of the V12 LM98.

Since then, chassis 001/98 has only been seen twice: in 2011, displayed at the Nürburgring with the N°2 LM98 body and livery, and at Retromobile 2016, this time in the LM2000 configuration.
In 2019, Endurance Info reported plans for it to participate in the Dix Mille Tour by @peterauto , under the goods hands of @olivier_galant, but the entry never materialized.

In 2025 this chassis underwent restoration by @JMBclassic, put back into its LM1998 configuration (livery element provided by @3ORmodeling). The car did its first shakedown at Paul Ricard in late June 2025.