Click above for a gallery of the BMW M3 Racing Version

Motorsports fans are eagerly anticipating the 2009 ALMS season where Ferrari, Porsche, Panoz, Ford, Dodge, Chevrolet and now BMW will be competing for the GT2 title. BMW Motorsport unveiled the new M3 racing program back in February of this year and have been developing the car in Europe since then. They recently handed off the car to Rahal Letterman Racing who tested the car this past week at Road Atlanta and are currently running laps at Sebring International Raceway. BMW also announced the first two drivers for the program, Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand, both of whom have extensive experience driving previous versions of the M3. Auberlen first drove for BMW in 1996 and won titles in 1997 and 2004. The M3 will make its 2009 racing debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 21.

Gallery: BMW M3 racecar testing at Road Atlanta

[Source: ALMS via SpeedHunters and AutoFiends]

Continue reading Rahal Letterman Racing tests new M3 racer at Road Atlanta, Sebring

Rahal Letterman Racing tests new M3 racer at Road Atlanta, Sebring originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Click above to watch the E92 M3 race car in action

The previous generation M3 had a short but dominant history in the American Le Mans Series. Competing in the 2001 season with a 4.0-liter V8, the M3 GTR decimated the GT (now GT2) class. Porsche cried foul, citing a lack of an "authentic" V8-powered M3 production car. Despite a small run of V8 M3s to satisfy regulations, the ALMS changed the rules so that BMW had to either produce 1000 road cars or face weight and intake restrictions. BMW decided it wasn't worth it and didn't return for the 2002 season. But with introduction of the E92 M3, BMW is free to race with a V8 unrestricted and announced their racing program in cooperation with Rahal Letterman Racing, as well as unveiling a new racecar at the Chicago Auto Show this year. We haven't heard much about the car since then, but BMW Motorsport released a video showing some pretty awesome footage of the car on track. It's design is aggressively beautiful, and we can't wait to see it rub fenders with Porsche and Ferrari next year in GT2. Follow the jump to watch the video or adorn your desktop with the gallery of images below.

Gallery: BMW Rahal Letterman Racing M3 ALMS car

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading VIDEO: E92 BMW M3 racer rolls out to the track

VIDEO: E92 BMW M3 racer rolls out to the track originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.