BMW officially unveils its M8 GTE challenger

The Bavarian marque took the covers off its new challenger, which will also race in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, at the Frankfurt Motor Show on Tuesday afternoon.

It will make its race debut next January in the Daytona 24 Hours before embarking on parallel WEC and IMSA campaigns in 2018.

"For us, the presentation of the uncamouflaged car at the IAA is the next important step on the road to our first race outing, which we plan to be the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2018," said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt.

"The FIA WEC and the IMSA series in North America are a top competitive environment for our new challenger.

"With the BMW M8 GTE, 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 development of the BMW M8 GTE is on schedule, and we can hardly wait to see the car challenging for victories in 2018."

Images were first released of the M8 GTE in camouflage livery in July, as Martin Tomczyk and Maxime Martin shared driving duties during initial testing at Lausitz.

The new machine was seen again testing at Barcelona the following month, as Tomczyk, Bruno Spengler, Nicky Catsburg and Phillipp Eng all took turns at the wheel. 

BMW however has yet to confirm which drivers will form its line-ups in WEC and IMSA for 2018.