BMW has debuted an exclusive Spider-Man-themed livery for the IMSA SportsCar Championship round at Road America, featuring prominently on the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 prototype driven by Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor during the six-hour endurance race.
The Spider-Man: Brand New Day Collaboration at Road America
The eye-catching red and blue design stems from a partnership between BMW, Marvel, and Sony to promote the upcoming superhero film Spider-Man: Brand New Day. A silhouette of Spider-Man, portrayed by actor Tom Holland, adorns the engine cover of the LMDh prototype. The movie itself hits theater screens on July 31, bringing cross-promotional marketing directly to the motorsport grid.
Not every car in the stable shares the cinematic aesthetic. While the No. 24 machine runs in its special comic-inspired colors, BMW’s other factory entry—entered by WRT in the GTP category, the No. 25 car piloted by Phillip Eng and Marco Wittmann—retains its standard factory livery for the weekend.
Retro Liveries and Historic Hollywood Crossovers
BMW isn’t the sole manufacturer shaking up its visual identity at Road America. Porsche Penske Motorsport announced earlier in the week that it will field two distinct retro designs for its 963 LMDh entries, bringing back the iconic Sunoco colors of the 1970s alongside the all-yellow livery of the RS Spyder.
Film studio collaborations with racing teams have a long, storied history in professional motorsports. Red Bull famously partnered with Star Wars at the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix, where the RB1 featured a themed design and pit crew members wore imperial stormtrooper helmets. Milton Keynes followed up that stunt a year later with a tie-in for DC Studios’ Superman, prompting drivers David Coulthard and Christian Klien to pose in capes for promotional shoots.
NASCAR saw a similar blockbuster crossover in 2016 when Hendrick Motorsports teamed up with Warner Bros to support Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Jimmie Johnson’s Chevrolet ran a Superman-themed paint scheme, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. piloted a Batman-branded machine. Both drivers joined actors Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill at Warner Bros studios for promotional engagements ahead of the cinematic release.
The Road Ahead for IMSA Prototypes
As the six-hour endurance battle at Road America unfolds, the promotional machinery behind Spider-Man: Brand New Day rolls on alongside high-stakes prototype racing.
