New M4 GT4 will be eligible
When the new BMW M4 GT4 customer car becomes available in 2018 it will be eligible for Continental Challenge. The new car was profiled here on July 30.
GT4, already running in Europe as a multi-marque series with lower costs than GT3, will be eligible for the Grand Sport class in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge series beginning in 2017. The move should revitalize the Grand Sport class; car counts have declined this year.
Cars currently running in the the Street Tuner class, where BMW 328s and Minis compete, will remain eligible through 2018.
IMSA has also announced that the ten-race Continental Challenge will include two four-hour enduros in 2017, including one that will be run as part of the IMSA season opener in Daytona in January and another that will be run at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in September. The September date at Mazda Raceway is new; the series has been running there in April or May. Details on all IMSA schedule and class changes are available on the series website.—Brian S. Morgan
