A five-year partnership between Bosch and the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) has been announced at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in the USA. Through the collaboration, the partners aim to use Bosch’s knowledge within the fields of electronics and mobility to improve vehicle performance while enhancing safety and making racing a fairer, more competitive sport.
To help motorsports transition to become a more sustainable sector that conserves resources, Bosch is continuing to work on the development of components and systems designed for use within electrified drives. One of the latest examples is the new LMDh vehicle – North America’s first hybrid-powered prototype race car, which competes within IMSA’s Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class. Furthermore, Bosch Motorsport is one of the exclusive partners for the hybrid powertrain in each LMDh car.
To adhere to the current LMDh regulations, the system has a permanent output of 50kW in drive mode and up to 200kW in recuperation mode. The hybrid system is capable of higher performance levels for future scalability, enabling Bosch to meet the power and torque demands of different racing series.
“Bosch has played a passionate role in motorsports for more than a century,” said Jacob Bergenske, director of Bosch Motorsport, North America. “From our ABS systems allowing for unbeatable braking performance, to our collection of electronics and telemetry systems that allow for data-driven performance on and off the track, to our new LMDh technology for electrified racing, Bosch helps set that pace.”
“Our new hybrid-electrified era of IMSA GTP racing would not have been possible without the substantial contributions of Bosch,” commented IMSA president John Doonan. “This is the newest chapter in a decades-long partnership between Bosch and IMSA. We have worked together in lockstep as technology has advanced over the years, and the best is yet to come with our ultimate showcase of relevance, technology and sustainability in the GTP class.”