As the world waits impatiently for the finished, production 8-Series to be revealed, BMW Motorsport released a teaser sketch of the GTE racing car.

Expected to debut at the Daytona 24 Hours in January, the upcoming M8 GTE will also signal BMW’s return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a factory team for the first time in six years.

“Developing a new racing car is always exciting, and in the case of the BMW M8 GTE the anticipation is that much greater still”, said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt at the reveal of the M8 prototype.

“We can’t reveal any pictures yet, but I can promise you that the BMW M8 GTE will look spectacular. We are planning an initial roll-out for the first half of this year and are looking at giving the car its race debut in the Daytona 24 Hours in late January 2018.”

As for the road version, the new BMW M8 is expected to use the same powertrain with the latest M5, including the trick all-wheel drive system, but according to reports will offer even more power than the official ‘over-600hp’ figure.