“IT’S a pretty impressive piece of gear,” Steven Richards says of his brand new toy.
“If you’re going to look at (a racecar) that looks pretty beautiful and aggressive, that’s it.”
And he’s not wrong.
Richards’s brand new BMW M6 GT3 has just landed in Australia, in all its carbon-fibre, twin-turbo V8-powered glory.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited,” he adds.
“I’ve had a few new race cars in my time, but this one takes the cake.”
The car is the first of its kind in Australia, to be used by Richards and his BMW Team SRM squad in this year’s Australian GT Championship.
The M6 GT3 replaces the marque’s venerable Z4 as its frontline racing weapon, making its worldwide race debut at the 24 Hours of Daytona.
Richards effort, as the name suggests, has the backing of BMW Motorsport and all its technical resources in Germany.
And if BMW Australia has its way, the car won’t be a lone ranger down under for long.
“BMW would like to see three or four of these cars running in Australia,” Richards said.
“They see it as a great way to platform other marketing activities that they’ve got planned over the course of the next 12 months and 2 years.
“There’s no doubt a focus on the Bathurst 12 Hour — that’s where we want to be in 2017 with a car that’s capable of winning the race.”
The BMW will join a growing cast of characters in the Australian GT Championship this season.
Walkinshaw Racing recently announced a one-car program for 2016, partnering with Porsche to race its new 911 GT3 R, while Bathurst 12 Hour winners Tekno Autosport will run a trio of McLarens in the championship.
Mercedes-Benz showed off its new AMG GT3 in pit lane during the Bathurst 12 Hour race weekend with a couple of those cars destined to race in this year’s series.
The 2016 Australian GT Championship, split into Enduro and Sprint series, gets underway at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide next month.
