This 450 hp racer was a part of a trio that dominated GT2 class racing and competed on the American Le Mans Sequence too
January 7, 2024 at 10:58
At BMW Take a look at Fest 2023, Carscoops had the chance to journey alongside in three retired BMW race automobiles. Of the trio, this M3 GT2-spec automotive was by far the quickest. Right here’s an inside perspective and video on what it’s prefer to journey in a championship-winning BMW racer.
That is the third and closing ride-along expertise from the occasion and it got here not lengthy earlier than this very automotive broke down. Not like the drivers of the M1 and the Z4 race automobiles that we sampled, the M3 GT2 driver seemed to be making an attempt to set a brand new quickest lap time. We are able to’t blame him contemplating the pedigree of this explicit automotive.
Underneath the hood is a 3.4-liter naturally aspirated inline six that produces about 450 horsepower ( kW). That may not sound like a lot, and it’s the least of the three automobiles we rode in, however this factor weighs simply 2,475 kilos. On high of that, it leverages a Hewland handbook gearbox for fast gear modifications and 280-section-width Yokohama tires for optimum traction.
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Extra: We Journey In A Traditional 1981 BMW M1 IMSA Group 4 Racer
It’s one in every of simply three such automobiles in existence and was a part of the BMW Staff M3s that swept the Producer, Driver, and Staff GT Class Championships within the 2004 Rolex Sports activities Automotive Sequence. Two years later it was on the grid for the American Le Mans Sequence which explains the livery that you just see on it right here. In the present day, it lives on as an indication car for occasions similar to Take a look at Fest.
Whereas BMW didn’t disclose what precisely broke within the automotive just some minutes after we obtained out, it’s not tough to see that the driving force was pushing the M3 onerous. For now, sit again, flip up your audio system, and benefit from the sights and sounds of a 450-horsepower race automotive rocketing across the BMW Efficiency Middle in Spartanburg, South Carolina.