2005
BMW M3 GTR
Pedro Lamy, Boris Said, Duncan Huisman, Andy Priaulx
24h Nürburgring.
In the 2001 season, the BMW M3 GTR was poised to make its debut. Equipped with a special high-performance engine under the hood, the car was intended to compete in a series based on production cars. However, the new engine was not used in any production variant of the M3, which meant that the homologation requirements were not met. Therefore, BMW Motorsport initiated the production and sale of a small series of street-legal variants of the M3 GTR.
In 2001, BMW Motorsport achieved podium finishes in seven out of ten races in the ALMS GT series with the M3 GTR. This success did not sit well with the competition, which successfully called for tightened regulations. It was no longer sufficient to produce just ten homologation models; a minimum of 100 had to be manufactured to meet the definition of a "production model."
The end of the BMW M3 GTR's career in the U.S. motorsport scene after just one but highly successful season marked the beginning of a new chapter in Europe. Several units of the M3 GTR were used very successfully between 2003 and 2005, including at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring endurance race.