Photo: BMW
BMW is considering giving the M4 GT3 EVO a pre-homologation race run this year with the SP-X entering the competition. NLS identified motorsport chief Andreas Roos as a key possibility.
The Munich-based marque has unveiled its updated GT3 challenger, which will make its customer race debut in 2025, ahead of the weekend’s Nürburgring on the 24th.
Visual tweaks to the new car include new headlights and taillights, while under the skin, the car has received new anti-roll bars on the front and rear axles, larger rear brake discs and a new, easier-to-adjust differential.
BMW M Motorsport director Andreas Roos has hinted to Sportscar365 that the EVO-spec GT3 could enter the race event before 2025, with the possibility of racing in the SP-X class within the NLS.
“We are working on it, especially if we see an Evo car on the Nordschleife this year,” said Roos.
“Or something like that, because it’s also special for the Nordschleife and here it would be, for example, the possibility to run the car also in the SP-X class, which is then quite easy because you don’t need homologation for that.
“Everywhere else you need a car that’s homologated, so we’ll see what’s possible.”
BMW has previously gone through the process of racing its non-homologated cars at the Nordschleife, with the original M4 GT3 in September 2021, when Augusto Farfus and Philipp Eng drove the car in the six-hour ADAC Ruhr Cup.
Porsche did something similar when developing its Type-992 911 GT3 R with the Manthey Racing team, which debuted the car at the Nordschleife in October 2022.
“It’s more about driving the car, just running it in race conditions to get some experience and knowledge because you can do a lot of testing, but you always learn different things sometimes in race conditions,” Roos said.
“That’s why we’d like to do just more testing and get more experience that when we deliver the car, when the car runs with the team from 2025, that they have a car that’s fully sorted.”
Roos said the race decision would depend on a number of factors including driver availability and that further evaluation would take place after the N24.
There are currently four rounds remaining on the NLS schedule, with the upcoming ADAC Westfalenfahrt falling on the same weekend as Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The six-hour ADAC Ruhr Cup, where the original M4 GT3 made its debut, is scheduled for August 3rd, with the next two rounds on October 19th and November 16th.
Should BMW decide to have the M4 GT3 EVO compete in the NLS before the end of the year, then running the car for BMW M Team RMG “could certainly be an option,” according to Roos.
The team, who finished third overall at the shortest N24 last weekend, played a key role in the car’s development alongside factory drivers August Farfus, Jens Klingmann and Bruno Spengler.
“It’s not the only option, but it certainly can be,” Roos said.
“Because they did all the development, they still have a lot of knowledge about the car. So it’s easy for them to drive a car.”
Roos went on to add that BMW is proceeding “on schedule” with the homologation process, with current indications that the process is likely to begin in September.
A key preparation to consider is the traditional IMSA sanctioned test at Daytona, scheduled for November 15-17 this year.
“It’s still in negotiations to find the right date with the FIA,” he said.
“We also have to do the SRO BOP test, which is usually in March. Also IMSA because we run the car in IMSA. So it’s a pretty big process, but the guys are working on it now to really make a timeline and a schedule.
“But I have to say that everything is according to plan, but it is still not ready because the car will come next year and at the moment we are dealing with the governing bodies.”
