Fans of BMW may lament the fact that the company seems to have lost sight of its "Ultimate Driving Machine" slogan over the past decade or so, but no one can argue that Bimmer hasn't done a great job of producing extremely powerful cars, regardless. And now, the German manufacturer has unveiled a forthcoming motorsport variant of the M4 sports car, the first of which rolled out of the company's Dingolfing facility for testing this past Saturday. Headed for Miramas, France, the car looks pretty aggressive with wide haunches, a massive rear wing, and a bit of camouflage paint in BMW's teaser photos.
Early Stages
BMW's development of the M4 GT3 began years ago alongside the street variant, though it was only in 2019 that computer simulations led to a 60-percent scale model undergoing wind tunnel testing in Munich. An early test chassis was then built at the BMW Group factory in Regensburg, Germany, in the early months of 2020, before a six-week period leading up to the recent unveil of the first factory tester. Behind the wheel of this first example sits Brazilian works driver Augusto Farfus, who had already undertaken months of simulated work to prepare for this very moment.
The Little Details
While the big elements of the wide coupe, its rear wing, rear diffuser, and window vents are easily visible in the teaser photo above, with a little more focus, a roll cage pops into view on the car's interior, which is a stripped, single-seater layout. Referring to the industry-wide slowdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic, BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt said, "Given the difficult conditions of the past few months, it is quite remarkable that we have managed to implement our development programme as planned, and whilst complying with the BMW Group’s strict safety and hygiene regulations throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, have managed to stick to the date originally envisaged for the rollout of the BMW M4 GT3." Hopefully, when the M4 GT3 is ready for its competition debut currently set for 2022, those fears will be well in the past.
Source: BMW