The factory BMW Team RLL program is facing a possible change in status next season in IMSA’s GT Le Mans category. RACER has learned the two-car BMW M8 GTE effort run by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is leaning towards a move from full-time participation to contesting the four major WeatherTech SportsCar Championship endurance races.

Reached Friday, a brand representative declined to comment on the nature of its upcoming GTLM plans, but did reaffirm “(BMW Motorsport boss) Jens Marquart has said BMW Motorsport is still committed to racing in IMSA.”

BMW traditionally presents its racing announcements for the following year during an annual function in December.

With the upcoming departure from the Porsche GT team following November 14’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, a downscaled BMW presence would leave new GTLM champions Corvette Racing as the only full-time factory effort in the class.

The anticipated part-time shift for BMW Team RLL would cap a turbulent span for GTLM where a full-time grid of eight manufacturer-sponsored cars in 2019 – including the former Ford Chip Ganassi Racing team – could be culled to two when the new season begins in January.

BMW Team RLL captured the last two Rolex 24 At Daytona victories with the M8 GTE, and scored another endurance win earlier this year at the six-hour Road Atlanta race. With Sebring left to run, John Edwards and Jesse Krohn are tied for second in the standings with the No. 24 BMW, and the sister No. 25 piloted by Connor De Phillippi and Bruno Spengler is third.

Possibilities remain for a handful of privateer GTLM entries to appear in 2021, which could bolster the category’s numbers, but the wave of exits from Ford, Porsche, and a limited campaign from BMW appear to signal a larger and expedited change is on schedule for the class.

Faced with the rapid decline in GTLM’s size and stature, IMSA could be forced to implement a new class structure in 2022. Multiple discussions are known to have been held on replacing GTLM with a pro version of its GT3-based GT Daytona category, which would give manufacturers a new opportunity to compete at a factory level using the same cars they sell to Pro-Am clients in GTD.

In August, BMW Motorsport unveiled its newest customer model, the M4 GT3, featuring a turbocharged inline-6 engine, which will make its competition debut in 2022.