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      02-13-2013, 12:49 PM   #35
mapezzul
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mkoesel View Post
Does this mean BMW will continue to use naturally aspirated V8s in ALMS indefinitely, or did the fact that the engine is still in production currently play a big role in getting it through the approval process?

The car looks great, but I think I'd rather see the non-production car/engine-type pairings left to the tube-chassis series'.
This car racing has been a work in progress in the US for the past few years.... I won't go into all of it but this car is homologated for the "new" class of ALMS/Grand AM. BMW will no longer produce a naturally aspirated engine soon so technically they couldn't even compete in ALMS with the past rules. The next few years will be strange in ALMS because of the merger but once turbos are allowed there will be a different setup and that will be based on a production engine (N55/S55) which will cease the issue with the production engine rules.
This car is also being heavily restricted because of the engine and the transmission is not an XTRAC. The competition is also outside the original ALMS rules as well.

Will BMW race the M4 or will it be the M2- M8 once the Z4 is out to pasture in 3 years? One thing is for sure we have seen the end of the M3 in racing.

Having watch the Z4 GT3 in Europe these past two years- I know fans will fall in love with it on the track as it looks mean and sounds angry.

I wouldn't be surprised to see MB begin racing in the states now as well since the rule changes will make things more affordable- the Z4 has less development costs and is much quicker.
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