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BMW M3 GTR (E46)
In 2001 BMW Motorsport had just one goal: to beat the Porsche 911 in the ALMS (American Le Mans Series). The car to do the job was the M3, but its straight-six engine lacked the ultimate power to keep up with the Porsches.
BMW sought and found the solution in the ALMS regulations that prescribed neither a number of cylinders nor the exact homologation numbers. Thus, BMW was allowed to enter its smallest car with its most powerful engine, the 5-litre V8 from the M5. The BMW M3 GTR was born.
The car more than lived up to the high expectations. The M3 GTR was so dominant during the 2001 season that the ALMS changed the regulations for 2002, effectively sidelining the M3 GTR. But the story doesn't end there. BMW brought the car back to Europe where it took first and second places in both the 2004 and 2005 edition of the 24-hour race on the Nürburgring.
The car DF Racing will be entering in the 2008 season looks identical to this factory racer. Technologically the car is also based on the original GTR with details such as a completely flat undertray to add downforce thus lowering the laptimes, centerlock hubs to ensure quicker pit stops and of course the V8 engine under the bonnet. Because of different regulations it is not the 5-litre V8 engine from the M5 (S62), but BMW's 4.4-litre V8 (M62). With this engine our car will just be allowed to compete in class 2 (the second fastest class that will be competing) and once again the battle with its long-lived rival can commence: the Porsche 911 (GT3).
