BMW Motorsport has announced that it plans to field an M6 GTLM based on the new M6 GT3 in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2016. BMW Team RLL, which is currently running a pair of Z4s in IMSA, will run the car. Drivers for the new car have not yet been announced.
The new car has participated in IMSA’s balance of performance tests for GTLM homologation; final approval by the sanctioning body is expected. Turner Motorsport has announced that it will run the M6 GT3 in the series’ GTD class.
Like the M6 GT3 (the car pictured here), the M6 GTLM is powered by what BMW describes as “a lightly modified version of the V8 production engine with M TwinPower Turbo Technology from the BMW M6 Coupé.”
BMW NA Chairman and CEO of Ludwig Willisch said, “Success in motor racing helped us prove The Ultimate Driving Machine claim in North America forty years ago and continues to be a part of the BMW marketing strategy to this day. As the largest market for BMW M in the world we are eager to delight our fans with the BMW M6 GTLM in the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.”
The series, known as the Tudor SportsCar Championship this year, begins its new sponsorship under WeatherTech in November. The first race will be the Rolex 24 at Daytona on January 28-31.—Brian S. Morgan
