Your Best Look Yet at the New BMW M8 but in Race Car Form

One of the more highly anticipated new race cars for 2018 has been fully unveiled.

Hitting the track this weekend in Daytona for its race debut, BMW rolled out the M8 GTE’s new livery for the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The German automaker says the upcoming Rolex 24 at Daytona is the next milestone in “Mission8,” with two cars in the GT class set to compete in the 24-hour race. Along with helping development on the production BMW 8 Series, the M8 GTE race car plays a role in the automaker’s return to Le Mans this year. It is also the first time in BMW Motorsport history that the race car will be in action before its series counterpart.

SEE ALSO: BMW M8 GTE Set to Make its Race Debut this Weekend

As expected, BMW will be working on tweaking the M8 GTE throughout the season. “After the car has been homologated, there are some areas in which we can, and may, make changes. We can still do some work on the software, in particular,” said BMW Motorsport director Jens Marquardt. “We will also continue to work on aligning the BMW M8 GTE with all its systems, and will integrate all the reference values we have acquired. First of all, however, we are looking forward to the maiden race in Daytona.”

If you’re interested to see how the BMW M8 GTE fares this weekend in competition, click here to find out where to watch the 2018 Rolex 24 at Daytona.