BMW has unveiled its flagship motorsport model for the next year’s World Endurance Championship – the M8 GTE.
Based on the road-going 8 Series that should be coming on sale next year, the GTE will be tackling some of the most challenging circuits in the track racing calendar, including the world-famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race. This marks BMW’s return to the race as a factory team for the first time since 2011.
Fitted with a 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 engine that is claimed to produce upwards of 500bhp, the M8 GTE has a six-speed sequential racing gearbox for seamless gear changes and a limited slip differential for excellent cornering.
The exterior is mainly made out of carbon-fibre reinforced plastic, which is lightweight and easy to change in case a piece of bodywork is damaged, while underneath it has a fully-approved roll cage. The GTE also comes with 18-inch lightweight alloy wheels.
It even has a rear-view camera to help with recognising cars behind and prevent serious accidents on-track.
Decked out in the famous BMW Motorsport livery of white with light blue, dark blue and red detailing, it is an unmistakeable machine.
BMW Motorsport director Jens Marquardt said: “The BMW M8 GTE is our new GT flagship and will go head to head with the strong opposition in this series.
“With the BMW M8 GTE, we are bringing cutting-edge technology to the top international class of GT racing, whilst at the same time tying in with our tradition at Le Mans. The development of the BMW M8 GTE is on schedule, and we can hardly wait to see the car challenging for victories in 2018.”
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