BMW have announced that they will debut two new cars at this weekend’s BMW M Grand Prix of Styria. The prototypes of the BMW M4 Coupe, and the new BMW M4 GT3, will see cars designed for the road and the racetrack presented side-by-side on Sunday.
It will be a first in a long history of MotoGP™, as the race winner will also be rewarded a high-performance BMW M4 car alongside their top step podium finish at the Red Bull Ring. The car is yet to come to market, and both versions were presented at the track in a camouflage look so as not to publicly reveal the final design.
“I am very pleased we are able to present both the new BMW M4 Coupe and the new BMW M4 GT3 together here. As title sponsor of the ‘BMW M Grand Prix of Styria’ and long-term partner of MotoGP organiser Dorna Sports, I cannot think of a better place to hold this special premiere,” says Markus Flasch, CEO of the BMW M GmbH, who himself completed the first laps on the Red Bull Ring in the BMW M4 Coupe.
“The BMW M4 Coupe and its motorsport counterpart BMW M4 GT3 are the icons of the BMW M GmbH and prime examples of the technology transfer from motorsport to series production – and back again. From the outset, both vehicles were developed parallel to each other, so they both have the same genes.”
For Philipp Eng, the person driving the BMW M4 GT3, the ride around the Austrian circuit was a welcome foretaste of the year ahead: “I can’t wait to take the BMW M4 GT3 onto the starting grid,” says the Austrian who will be participating in the DTM with the ZF BMW M4 DTM. “The BMW M4 GT3 will already take part in its first race next year and will be able to prove how it performs under competitive conditions. I am sure that it has what it takes to continue the long-standing and successful tradition of BMW M vehicles.”
From 2022 and following selected racing events in 2021, the BMW M4 GT3 will finally replace the BMW M6 GT3 as the top-of-the-range model in BMW’s customer sport offering. Since 2016, the BMW M6 GT3 has been part of the BMW M Motorsport vehicle portfolio, already winning the Spa-Franchorchamps 24 hours during its debut year, only to surpass this success with a double victory two years later.
For more information about BMW M GmbH and the involvement as the “Official Car of MotoGP”, see: www.bmw-m.com