If you want to race a factory-built BMW, your most
affordable choice is the M240i Racing. That will change soon as BMW M
Motorsport has just announced that a new entry-level model is about to debut.
It will be based on the BMW M2 Competition and will make its competitive debut
on August 3 on the Nordschleife in the VLN Endurance Championship’s six-hour
race.
In its maiden race, the car will be driven by BMW
Motorsport Junior Beitske Visser (NED) and Jörg Weidinger (GER). The latter is
a test and development engineer at BMW M GmbH and a very successful BMW Sports
Trophy competitor for many years.
The BMW M2 Competition race car will be run by BMW
Motorsport and will sport a special camouflage livery. The race will serve as
another tough test necessary for development before customers start racing it
next season. In recent months and weeks, the BMW M2 Competition customer racing
car has already completed successful tests at Miramas in France and Portimão in
Portugal.
The teaser photos and video reveal a racing
aerodynamic package including a front splitter and fixed rear wing, as well as
new motorsport rims and tires. The interior is obviously stripped out of all
unnecessary things and features two bucket seats, a butterfly steering wheel
with paddle shifter, and fire extinguishing system.
BMW says it will offer the new entry-level race car
in two versions, Racing and Clubsport, as the carmaker wants to appeal to more
potential amateur racing drivers. There are also plans for a Permit B version
of the car for use on the Nordschleife within the VLN.
There are no mechanical details available but we
expect a race-tuned version of the same 3.0-liter twin-turbo straight-six
engine which in the road car makes 410 PS and 550 Nm of
torque. The first cars are scheduled for customer delivery in the second
quarter of 2020.
