The promise of a new 8 Series has Bimmer fans
salivating and you can bet that there'll be numerous variants
as well: coupe, convertible, M8 performance version, and even a racing
version. BMW Motorsport gave us our first taste of the forthcoming M8 GTE with
a teaser sketch just yesterday, and it's wasting little time in
putting it to the test on track.
Built to challenge the top GT racers in the world,
the M8 GTE is set to compete not only in the GTLM class of the IMSA WeatherTech
SportsCar Championship – replacing the current M6 GTLM – but also in the LMGTE
class of the FIA World Endurance Championship. That includes the 24 Hours of Le
Mans, where the Bavarian automaker is set to field a factory team for the first
time in six years.
It'll face stiff competition, from the
likes of the Porsche 911 RSR, Ferrari 488, Aston Martin Vantage, Ford GT, and
Corvette C7.R – all vying for top honors. We'll look forward to seeing how it
fares on its race debut come January at the 24 Hours of Daytona. But in the
meantime you can get an idea of what BMW is working on in the images below,
showing a rather sinister-looking prototype running around the EuroSpeedway
Lausitzring.
The East German circuit has long hosted DTM tin-top
racers, Superbikes, and even Champ Cars once upon a time, but will soon to
close its gates to the public and carry on as a private test track for German
regulatory firm Dekra.
