BMW M8 GTE racer breaks cover ahead of 2018 endurance campaign

Excited about BMW’s upcoming M8? Of course you are.

With athleticism and elegance in equal measure, BMW’s upcoming two-door flagship – and replacement for the M6 – is not short on enthusiast appeal.

But if you’re the hardcore, stopwatch round the neck, lap time obsessed type; it’s the track-spec M8 GTE endurance racer that will likely tickle your fancy more. BMW has released the first pics of the GTE-spec M8 undergoing its first shakedown tests at the Lausitzring in Germany, and the bewinged monster is not wanting for presence.

With its substantially widened bodywork gifting it eye-popping girth and its aggressive aero package sucking it down – both visually and literally – to the track, the camo-clad M8 GTE makes its road-legal sibling look tame. Can’t wait to see it without the camouflage? Its competition debut is slated for the 24 Hours of Daytona in January, followed by rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship including the Le Mans 24-hour.

BMW is keeping quiet on the M8’s mechanical package for now – both for the road and race versions – though a camouflaged prototype of the road-going version has been captured on film emitting some very V8-like noises. With the GTE category mandating the use of a production-based powerplant, it’s a safe bet that there will also be a bent-eight under the bonnet of the track-going M8 – and it’ll likely be a development of the 4.4 litre twin-turbo V8 used in BMW’s M6 GT3 racecar.

Unlike the M8 road car, which is expected to receive a version of the new-gen BMW M5’s all-wheel drive undercarriage, the M8 GTE racer will send all of its power to the rear wheels only. Rules are rules.

And said rules preclude the use of custom tube-framed chassis or exotic pushrod suspensions. The M8 GTE’s chassis will be derived from the road car’s floorpan (which in turn is built on BMW’s CLAR modular architecture), though expect heavy modifications to engine, transmission, suspension and seat mounting points to adapt it to race duty.

With GTE regulations running close to the GT3 category, the M8 GTE – by virtue of its size and turbo V8 powertrain – will likely align quite closely with the Bentley Continental GT3. However, it won’t be going toe-to-toe with its British counterpart on the circuit. Instead, the M8 GTE will face off against GTE-spec rivals like the Ferrari 488, Aston Martin Vantage, Porsche 911 RSR and Ford GT when it turns its wheels in anger for the first time at Daytona next year.

Noticed how BMW hasn’t released any shots of the rear? That’s probably because the GTE rulebook has stricter rear wing size compared to GT3, but puts greater emphasis on rear diffuser dimensions. That diffuser will be critical to how the M8 GTE performs on the track, hence why BMW Motorsport isn’t yet giving us a glimpse of it.

Just how important is the diffuser? Well, don’t forget that Porsche recently upset the applecart by flipping around the engine of its 911 RSR earlier this year, throwing tradition out of the window and placing the 911’s flat-six ahead of the rear axle for the first time – all to make space for that crucial diffuser.

Ford is also said to have engineered its new GT around the diffuser as well, and sports possibly the neatest integration of that critical aero device as a result. With performance parity among the GTE field being regulated through intake restrictors and ballast, aerodynamics is one of few areas where a GTE racer can gain an advantage.

Expect to hear more, and see more, of BMW’s M8 GTE as its race debut approaches.