2016 BMW M6 GTLM Set For IMSA Daytona Public Debut

BMW‘s latest endurance racer, the M6 GTLM, will hit the track on Nov 17-19 for the IMSA test at the Daytona International Speedway.

Under the tutelage of BMW Team RLL, the M6 GTLM recently completed its first official test in the US at Sebring International Speedway late last month, along with a M6 GT3 racer which will provide the foundation for BMW’s global customer racing program.

The Sebring tests saw 2015 season drivers Bill Auberlen, Dirk Werner and John Edwards take to the track along with 2014 GTLM champion Kuno Wittmer, who will also participate in the development of the new race car. However, the Daytona test will see Auberlen and Edwards joined by Lucas Luhr and BMW DTM driver Bruno Spengler, who raced for BMW Team RLL during the 2015 Rolex 24 event.

BMW Motorsport junior driver Trent Hindman (20 years old) got the chance to try on last year’s Z4 GTLM at Sebring and will also observe the Daytona test, though it’s unclear if he’ll get the chance to get behind the wheel of the M6 GTLM – officially the third BMW model campaigned by BMW Team RLL, which sports a 13-win record as well as 57 podiums throughout the past seven seasons.

Last year, however, the team could only manage second place in the GTLM class for Manufacturer, Team & Drivers championships.

Touching on the design of the car, the custom bodywork (hood, rear wing, etc) has a performance-oriented purpose obviously, though that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate the aggressiveness of the design. We could say that compared to this race car, the road-going M6 looks like extremely underwhelming.

The 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will start on January 30-31, 2016, with the 54th annual Rolex 24 at Daytona.