BMW has revealed a one-off Spider-Man livery for this weekend’s IMSA SportsCar Championship round at Road America.
As part of a collaboration with Marvel and Sony’s upcoming superhero film Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor will sport a special blue-and-red colour scheme in the six-hour enduro. The livery also features the silhouette of Spider-Man, played by Tom Holland, on the engine cover of the LMDh prototype.
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BMW’s other factory car entered by WRT in the GTP class, the #25 entry shared by Phillip Eng and Marco Wittmann, will retain its regular colours.
The IMSA design is part of a wider partnership between the two brands that will see several BMW vehicles appear in Brand New Day, which is set to release in cinemas on 31 July.
BMW will not be the only manufacturer to run different colours at Road America. Earlier this week, Porsche Penske Motorsport announced that it will adopt two retro designs for its 963 LMDhs, bringing back the iconic Sunoco colours from the 1970s and the all-yellow livery of the RS Spyder.
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It is not uncommon for movie studios to collaborate with racing teams and drivers to promote their blockbuster films. Red Bull famously collaborated with Star Wars at the 2005 Monaco GP, with the RB1 carrying a themed livery and the team’s pit crew wearing special stormtrooper-style helmets. A year later, the Milton Keynes squad struck a similar deal with DC Studios’ Superman, with drivers David Coulthard and Christian Klien appearing in Superman capes for a photoshoot.
One of the most memorable examples came in NASCAR in 2016, when Hendrick Motorsports partnered with Warner Bros to promote Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Jimmie Johnson’s Chevrolet was painted in a special Superman livery, while Dale Earnhardt Jr was transformed into Batman colours.
Their respective cars were also heavily used for promotion in America, with Johnson and Earnhardt Jr joining actors Ben Affleck (Batman) and Henry Cavill (Superman) at the Warner Bros studios for a promotional shoot ahead of the film’s release.
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