BMW Motorsport announced that it has completed an intensive three-day test at Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France with its 2018 BMW M8 GTE, set to race in the FIA WEC and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

As part of the test, the car completed a 24-hour run, the main focus of the trip to France. Driving the car were BMW works drivers Martin Tomczyk, Antonio Felix da Costa, Philipp Eng and Alexander Sims.

Reacting to the test, BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt said was positive about the car’s performance.

“This 24-hour endurance test marks another important step in the preparation of the new BMW M8 GTE. This test confirmed that our development of the car is on track,” he said. “We have seen that we can complete a marathon test without any major issues. Of course, when developing a new racecar there are always areas with a little more room for improvement. Our engineers will now work hard on those in Munich, and during the tests in the USA.

“Overall, we are pleased with what we have achieved so far and we can hardly wait to experience the BMW M8 GTE in its first race at Daytona in January.”

Tomczyk, who drove the car, added: “The test went positively. An endurance test like this is a real acid test for the car, and the BMW M8 GTE passed it. Of course, there were one or two minor things but they did not affect the 24-hour run as a whole.”

The BMW M8 GTE is set to debut at the end of January in the 2018 Rolex 24 At Daytona.