Apparently Autosport Magazine is reporting that BMW is in talks with the FIA about making the M6 legal for competition in the GT1 class. I have not personally seen the article but TomM said he did and as far as he knows that is as far as it has gone. Now that would rock.... :buttrock

I found this picture from Autosport.

http://www.geocities.com/racing_line/2007m6gt1.jpg

damn, thats nice. Thanks Tom!

red x's are hawt. i'd love to see bmw return to some form of sportscar racing, after teh whole GTR production debacle.

Unfortunately even if the M6 were race-ready and legal, it still wouldn't necessarily mean there'd be an ALMS program.

For the past 10 yrs or maybe more, every BMW that has been legal to run according to FIA standards, has been run here in the states. E36 M3 GTR, V12 LMR, E46 M3 GTR... BMW is stupid if it is legal and they dont run the car here, one of their biggest markets, if not their biggest market.

Holy M Batman!! :buttrock

That would be a great competitor in GTS. They wouldn't have to put up with Porsche at least.

Then again...a week after BMW officially announces this Porsche will state that they will be entering their Carrera GT.

For the past 10 yrs or maybe more, every BMW that has been legal to run according to FIA standards, has been run here in the states. E36 M3 GTR, V12 LMR, E46 M3 GTR... BMW is stupid if it is legal and they dont run the car here, one of their biggest markets, if not their biggest market.
http://www.bmwpower.cz/magazin/m3-e36/M3-E36-62.jpg
:devillook
http://bmwtoyoko-hp.hp.infoseek.co.jp/images/photo/e46/sebring_2000_1.jpg

return of the M6 :buttrock :buttrock :buttrock :buttrock :buttrock :buttrock :buttrock :buttrock

For the past 10 yrs or maybe more, every BMW that has been legal to run according to FIA standards, has been run here in the states. E36 M3 GTR, V12 LMR, E46 M3 GTR... BMW is stupid if it is legal and they dont run the car here, one of their biggest markets, if not their biggest market.

This might start the flames again. BMW attempted to create a legal car with the E46 M3 GTR. They worked with the ACO to fit the car into the GT class and they were making plans for production. Porsche complained so bitterly that, even after agreements were in place, the rules were adjusted to make the GTR less competitive. TomM knows all too well how disgusted BMW was (and may still be). I suggest that BMW might do something with the FIA and GT1/GT2, but not do anything official with the ACO. The article TomM has posted says that they'd like a front engined car to be the "baseline" of performance. In other words, they don't want a rear engined car to be the standard.

http://www.bmwpower.cz/magazin/m3-e36/M3-E36-62.jpg
don't they know clears would make the car that much faster?!?

Is that the S14 hill climb car, sequential and all :) I think...?

don't they know clears would make the car that much faster?!?

Nah, that's why they put stickers on for extra HP :devillook

I hope the M6 makes it and won't get canned like the E46 M3 GTR and Porsche is not gonna whine again! :rolleyes

According to lmsr.net (a reputable ALMS etc info site):
FIA today approved the homologation of the BMW 6 Series in the GT1 category! Collective applause from BMW fans worldwide!

best of wishes to the m6 but for some reason it just looks funny in gtr form:dunno:

For the past 10 yrs or maybe more, every BMW that has been legal to run according to FIA standards, has been run here in the states. E36 M3 GTR, V12 LMR, E46 M3 GTR... BMW is stupid if it is legal and they dont run the car here, one of their biggest markets, if not their biggest market.
You are 100% right, BMW CEO was interviwed by business international tv and he admited that.

All this is a step in the direction of getting something running here in the US. GT1 is an FIA classification. This does not mean they will run in the ALMS unless enough turnover has removed the angst from the M3 GTR. From what I've heard at PTG, BMW was so PO'd by the ACO restrictions after an agreed upon regulation, that they may never go back. Maybe the economic benefits might overcome the angst...who knows?

The ACO and FIA have come together a bit more this past year and that is the reason why the classes have changed from GTS/GT and GT/NGT to GT1 and GT2. I believe the ACO still has to accept a homologation if the car manufacturer wants to race in an ACO/Le Mans series but a crossover can be far easier now because the rules are much similar.

Tom, what do you think BMW's position will be on participation in the ALMS? You guys, as will as BMW were not too happy a few years ago.

I don't speak for PTG or BMW but I think BMW wants to race wherever it makes the most sense. Grand-Am is coming on strong and this next year as well as following years should see huge growth. As much as I know a lot of the diehard sports car fans want to ignore Grand-Am, they can't deny that they've been doing something right.

From 95 to 2001 everything was going pretty smoothly. 2001 showed awesome racing amongst the two BMW teams and the top Porsche teams. Then no racing in 2002 followed by SWC in 03 which isn't the place for PTG and now finnaly at Grand-Am, where it's like it used to be from 95 to 2001. People say that BMW is trying to avoid any competition by packing up and going home with the GTR's, leaving SWC after one year, and then going to Grand-Am but the decisions associated with those moves were all based on what was best for BMW and PTG at that time.

Everything about Grand-Am says they are serious about the racing. They've provided an even playing field for the DP's and the same can somewhat be said for GT. Last year was a dominant year for BMW but the field was pretty thin and when one of the top Porsche teams leaves halfway through the season it made things that much easier. Next year will be a different story. The teams running in GAC or in SGS can now run an affordable Porsche 911 Cup car or go with something different like a BMW, GTO, NSX, etc. There are many competent teams and drivers who ran in SGS last year that can take it to the best of them. Grand-Am isn't perfect, SWC isn't perfect, ALMS isn't perfect, but right now everything points to Grand-Am as being the best series for BMW.

When the new M3 comes or if BMW NA wants to run an M6 I'm sure they will take a look at the ALMS and evaluate what series makes the most sense.

I really hope BMW considers running an M6 in ALMS program, that would be amazing.

I really hope BMW considers running an M6 in ALMS program, that would be amazing.
agreed!

agreed!
:werd:

TomM,

Thanks for your reply. You have a lot of very valid points...mainly that the entry numbers show that GA is doing something right. However I find myself to be one of those fans who really isnt that intrigued by Grand Am. Certainly not running a full 24 hrs of daytona whenever that was seemed sketchy to me. In addition the cars simply dont interest me as much. The cars in ALMS like the vettes, 550s (and at least 1 is expected to return next yr), prototypes, etc all seem to appeal to me a lot more. In addition, I have a general distate for rovals. I surely would like to see BMW return to a series that can qualify them for Lemans, that doesnt run rovals, etc. But in the mean time ill be rooting for PTG in GA :)

M6 would be awesome. But that pic wasn't done very well.

M6 would be awesome. But that pic wasn't done very well.


It was a pic created by autosport for a 5 paragraph story which was then scanned so the quality isnt awesome.

Last year was a dominant year for BMW but the field was pretty thin and when one of the top Porsche teams leaves halfway through the season it made things that much easier.

There are several reason why top Porsche teams left midway through the season. In the 24 hrs of Daytona in 2003 a Porsche GT car won overall. Grand-Am officials did not want to see a repeat of that for 2004. Rule changes were made to prevent that. Production based Porsche GT cars were penalized for 2004. Fuel capacity were reduced which means Porsche teams have to stop more than other cars. They also required Porsche cars to add Ballast to their homologated weight. redline was also reduced by 1000 rpm. These changes surely made the Porsches slower and had to stop more often for fuel and Grand-Am made sure they didn't win the 24 hrs race overall. If you remember the race in 2004 the race was stopped for 2 hrs because of the rain. But experts who were there say it wasn't stopped because of rain. It was stopped because Goodyear who provides the tires for the race ran out of suitable rain tires for the DP class and only had intermediate rain tires available for DP class.

These changes made a lot of top Porsche teams to leave the series for 2004.

On another note It would be great to see Team PTG return to ALMS. GTS and GT class have been dominated by Corvette and Porsche respectively and made the series very boring. the return of BMW and Bently will definitely spice things up for the series. In Grand-Am and least there are several Manufacturers represented this year.

I found this picture from Autosport.

http://www.geocities.com/racing_line/2007m6gt1.jpg

Ugliest photochop EVER. I mean if youre gonna take a GTR and paste 6 series bits onto it, at least make it look half decent. Ugh. :eek:

Edit: woah, their ARTIST did that. I sure hope he never designs flyers for future events.

This is going to be one great ALMS season, I cant wait.

Rich :)

This is going to be one great ALMS season, I cant wait.

Rich :)

This is the first time in a while that I am looking forward the the ALMS season. The M3's departure really put me down:(

Here's something that will make this ALMS season interesting.

The Aston Martin DBR9.

I whole heartedly agree. That Aston Martin DBR9 (even though its only doin sebring and maybe a few other selective races) with 2 Corvette C6R and I believe 3 old C5Rs run by privateers. Add to that another Champion R8...damn it should be good all around.

Edit: just read on lmsr.net that the Konrad Saleen S7 is supposedly racing all or part of the season in GT1 as well. And Panoz just finished some extensive testing for their factory GT2 team. hopefully they can give Porsche a run for their money with Billy behind the wheel. :buttrock

Here's another one. It's a great looking car for sure. David Brabham, Tomas Enge and Darren Turner have been testing.

Just read in Bimmer magazine about the new M6, a very sweet car. In the article they mentioned BMW already having the car homologated for GT-1 with the FIA for competition for LeMans and ALMS. Any word on any teams interested in getting BMW back into ALMS?

Sure wish PTG would get back into ALMS with an M6 and an M3 when the new V-8 M3's come out. In another article in Bimmer there was a story about PTG and their driver lineup for the M3's in Grand Am for this year includes TomM. Good luck TomM. While I am not a big fan of Grand Am and those god awful DP cars I will always be a fan of PTG.

looks like it is gonna be a tough season for BMW if you judge by qualifying 1 in GA. Auberlen and co are the first non Porsche at 9th in class. Marks/Milner etc are 15th in class.

Daytona isn't going to favor the BMW's in GT class. It's such a top speed track that I'm sure their poorer aero (and the tires sticking out of the front fenders) are going to put them behind the P-Cars around the banking.