IMSA: Philipp Eng leaves BMW M Motorsport after 11 years

Austrian driver Philipp Eng, 36, will leave BMW M Motorsport at the end of the 2026 season. According to DailySportsCar, the split is by mutual decision after 11 years together. His name therefore disappears from the manufacturer's works driver roster, which includes its IMSA programme with the BMW M Hybrid V8.

Eleven years in BMW colours

Eng started with BMW M Motorsport at 16 in Formula BMW and won that series' 2007 World Final. In 2008 he tested the BMW Sauber F1 Team's Formula 1 car. He became a works driver in 2016 and immediately won the Spa 24 Hours with ROWE Racing in an M6 GT3.

• Spa: three overall wins, in 2016, 2018 and 2023.
• Daytona: GTLM class win in the Daytona 24 Hours in 2019, in a BMW M8 GTE for BMW M Team RLL.
• DTM: four seasons from 2018 to 2022, covering 72 races with one win and five podiums.

IMSA GTP: four seasons in the BMW M Hybrid V8

Since 2023, Eng has driven the BMW M Hybrid V8 in the GTP class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. He has two wins and five podiums there, two of them in 2026. In 2025 he finished fourth in the overall standings alongside Dries Vanthoor. This season, paired with Marco Wittmann, he took podiums at Laguna Seca and Detroit, and the pair sit 13th in the GTP drivers' championship, according to Sportscar365.

What does BMW say?

BMW M Motorsport boss Andreas Roos thanked Eng for his 11 years with the team and stressed his part in BMW's growth in IMSA into a regular winner. Eng himself says he is happy to have won races in every series he has competed in (DTM, IMSA, GT World Challenge, Intercontinental GT Challenge) and names his three Spa victories and his Daytona success as highlights.

What comes next is unknown

None of the sources consulted names the driver's next team or championship. BMW speaks of new challenges from next season, and Motorsport Week mentions other GT opportunities. No successor in the BMW M Hybrid V8 has been announced either.