Large supercar on the horizon: From next year, BMW will be racing the new M6 GT3 with its 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 engine. The big coupé, which has been undergoing testing for almost a year, is set to replace the Z4 GT3, which has been in use since 2010. Klingmann, who finished third in the 2015 ADAC GT Masters, is one of the test drivers for the manufacturer and was recently to be seen putting the new BMW through its paces on the Daytona and Sebring racetracks in Florida.

"A lot has happened since my first test drive in the BMW M6 GT3 almost a year ago," says Klingmann commenting on the development of the M6. "In the beginning, everything about the vehicle was new. There was hardly any empirical data that we could transfer from the BMW Z4 GT3. But we have now made huge progress and, in my view, managed to tune the car exceptionally well. As a driver, I'm very pleased to see how well our suggestions have been implemented. I'm sure that even the Gentleman entrants will cope admirably with the vehicle."

Klingmann was joined for the tests in the USA by winner of five ADAC GT Masters races Maxime Martin and by former DTM champion Marco Wittmann. "During our time at Daytona, Marco Wittmann, Maxime Martin and I concentrated on tuning the BMW M6 GT3 to the track and to the tyres, which are new for us. It was intriguing to come up against our direct competitors for the first time. Even though no-one puts their cards on the table at such a test, you still get a first impression of approximately where you stand. Overall I am very satisfied with the results of the tests and look forward to the first race. Only then will we get a true sense of the relative strengths of the manufacturers in GT racing. Then we can define our targets for the debut season of the BMW M6 GT3 more precisely."