The GT4 class in the VLN endurance championship will be extended. Mercedes-AMG intends to expand their customer engagement in 2017 onto the GT4 category. In the past years, the manufacturer from Stuttgart/Germany has attracted a lot of attention at the Nürburgring Nordschleife with their GT3 race cars.
“The excellent feedback by our customer teams regarding the AMG GT3 and the increasing interest in GT4 race cars confirmed our decision”, said Tobias Moers, Chairman of the Board of Mercedes-AMG GmbH. “We are happy to address an even bigger target group with this project in the future, both regarding drivers and teams.”
The basis for the new GT4 race car is the Mercedes-AMG GT R. User friendliness and a sophisticated safety package shall be the leading factors in the development of the new GT4. Moers: “The development of the Mercedes-AMG GT4 is another important step in the continuous advancement of our Mercedes-AMG motorsport programme.”
The VLN fans may look forward to an increasing competition in class SP10. The races in that class which have so far be dominated by the Aston Martin series winners will definitely become closer. The new Porsche Cayman GT4 has given the Vantage V8 hard times already in 2016. And the new KTM X-Bow GT4 scored a one-two win in class SP10 right away when it made its debut in the VLN 2016.
BMW and Audi, too, are engaged in the development of new GT4 cars. BMW intends to have the successor of the successful M3 GT4 ready to race from the season 2018; tests with the M4 GT4 are scheduled to take place next season. Audi is developing a GT4 race car on basis of the Audi R8.
