FAREWELL TO BMW’S UNPOPULAR WINNER
It has a roll of honour that would be the envy of many major manufacturers. Twice a winner of the Spa 24 Hours, the BMW M6 GT3 has conquered the Nurburgring 24 Hours, the Macau FIA GT World Cup, and been a serial winner in the Nurburgring Langstrecken Serie (NLS, formerly VLN). One of four cars to win a race in the first season of the DTM’s new era in 2021, it stands a good chance of winning two major titles in its swansong season, five years after its 2016 introduction.
So it will be remembered fondly in the history books. Yet for all its on-track successes, the M6 GT3 has been commercially unsuccessful beyond a hardcore base of stalwart BMW squads that have kept it winning against more fashionable opposition, and unpopular with amateur drivers who are the backbone of the global formula.
In an era when GT3 cars are increasingly homogenised by a requirement for customers of variable experience to be capable of driving fairly close to the limit that a professional can extract, the M6 has been something of an outlier. It excels in high-speed corners, but has traditionally struggled with the tight, twisty sections where the majority of lap time is to be found. It’s perhaps no surprise that the M4 GT3 due to replace it next year is intended to be more of a compromise.
“I’m looking forward to a more well-rounded car that has a chance on some of the tighter road courses,” says stalwart M6 runner Will Turner,
