BMW has officially unveiled the car it will run in next year's World Endurance Championship GTE-Pro category.
Powered by a four-litre V8 engine, the new M8 will be eligible to compete in both the WEC (including the 24 Hours of Le Mans) and the North American IMSA Sportscar Championship.
“The BMW M8 GTE is our new GT flagship and will go head to head with the strong opposition in this sector,” said BMW Motorsport director Jens Marquardt during the car's launch at Frankfurt Auto Show on Tuesday.
"We are bringing cutting-edge technology to the top international class of GT racing, whilst at the same time tying in with our tradition at Le Mans."
“The FIA WEC and the IMSA series in North America are a top competitive environment for our new challenger. The development of the BMW M8 GTE is on schedule, and we can hardly wait to see the car challenging for victories in 2018."
The M8 marks the manufacturer's first entry at Le Mans since 2011, when a factory-run M3 GT2 finished third in class.
BMW is yet to confirm its WEC and IMSA driver lineups for next season, although several current factory assets including Martin Tomczyk, Phillipp Eng, Bruno Spengler and Maxime Martin have been spotted behind the wheel during private tests.
The M8 will make its race debut in the GTLM category at the Daytona 24 Hours in January.
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