BMW M6 GT3 new images

BMW's big bad GT racer is another step closer to competing

This is just a hunch, but there's good reason to believe the Spa 24-hour victory for the BMW Z4 GT3 at the weekend was a popular one. It's such a good looking racing car, brimming with menace and intent, ready to pick a fight with anyone or anything within a few metres of its humongous spoiler. That it is based on something as limp as a Z4 makes the transformation all the more remarkable.

You wanna race? Really?

But this is the last season of the Z4 as BMW's current GT3 racer, the car being phased out in place of the M6 GT3. Actually taken at Spa over the weekend, these are the best pictures yet of the new car, and, well, look at it! Low, wide and, like the Z4, intensely aggressive, the M6 looks a fitting replacement. Plus it has side-exit exhausts, which always make racing cars cooler.

The M6 GT3 is likely to use a version of the 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 that powers the road car, with power marginally down on the road car at around 500hp. BMW has confirmed it will weigh less than 1,300kg, a huge saving over an M6 Coupe's 1,925kg.

The new BMW GT3 will be officially launched towards the end of this year ahead of a competitive debut in 2016. It promises to be a great season for GT racing, with the AMG GT3 replacing the SLS to go battling the M6. Hopefully one or two Cadillac ATS-V.Rs can feature as well. More details to follow!