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GRAND-AM, IMSA announce deal to bring DTM racing to US

It won't be until 2015 at the earliest, but the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), Grand-Am and the Internationale Tourenwagen-Rennen have agreed to a licensing and cooperation deal that could bring a version of Germany's DTM series to the US.
When the American Le Mans Series and Grand-Am are officially combined next year, the resulting body will be called United SportsCar Racing (USCR). IMSA will be the sanctioning body for that series, and DTM races could be run as support events. It was also suggested by an ALMS chief that DTM races could be standalone or join NASCAR and IndyCar weekends.
With the so-called DTM America finally agreed to, there is now a way for manufacturers to run the same DTM-type cars in Europe, the US and Japan - last year Japan's Super GT series agreed to adopt "the basic technical regulations" of DTM for the GT500 class, the top class in the series. That already puts six manufacturers in play: Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW that run in Germany's DTM and Honda, Nissan and Lexus that run in Super GT. The DTM oversight body has invited American brands to Germany for the opening round of the 2013 season, and will begin actively courting their participation in the US series. Check out the press release from Audi with comments on the deal below.

BMW-Toyota partnership to spawn hybrid supercar

BMW and Toyota inked a partnership some time ago to develop green technology, and while we were excited by the idea of a reborn Supra with BMW's carbon fiber reinforced plastic slashing the curb weight or an ultra-efficient, hybridized 1 Series, the joint efforts have been rather limited. That's set to change, though, according to a report from Australia.
Motoring reports that the partners have come to terms on a sports car. And not just any sports car, but a lightweight, hybridized model, with a six-figure price tag. Lending a bit of street cred to that idea is the site's claim that Toyota is currently carrying out durability testing on the BMW i8. According to the site, the new model will slot into the spot left by the Lexus LFA, although based on the language used, it's unclear if this is the Tokyo-bound vehicle we mentioned several months ago.
Details on this potential car are limited, although Motoring claims it will use a Toyota hybrid system mated up to a BMW gas engine - likely the 4.4-liter, twin-turbo V8 found in the M5 and M6. That sounds pretty amazing to us, but we'd still advise taking this with a grain of salt. What would you like to see out of a joint-venture supercar from Toyota and BMW? Let us know in Comments, and have your say on the prospects of a hybridized, twin-turbocharged V8.

BMW unleashes new M4 racer on DTM

We may not get to enjoy the fruits of it all, but we're in the midst of a golden age in touring car racing around the world. In Northern Europe, rival local series have amalgamated into the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship. In the UK, the British Touring Car Championship is enjoying the largest and most diverse grid in its long history. In Australia, the V8 Supercars series has grown from a Holden vs. Ford battle to include challengers from Mercedes, Nissan and Volvo. And in Germany, the DTM championship has managed to lure BMW back onto the grid to open up the battle between Mercedes and Audi. All good things, in short.
Since returning to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in 2012, BMW has won the drivers' title once and the constructors' title twice, proving the Bavarian manufacturer to be not only a suitable challenger to the two-horse race between its star- and ring-emblazoned rivals, but the dominant force in German tin-top racing. Now BMW is set to enter its third season since returning to the DTM, and this is the car with which it intends to do so.
Replacing the M3 DTM that has impressively won half of the DTM races it has contested over the past two years, BMW's latest racing car is made in the mold of the new M4 coupe. Only it's even meaner. While the production version has switched to a turbo six, the DTM version still uses a V8: a 4.0-liter unit with four-valve cylinder heads, mandatory air restrictors and a Bosch ECU to channel 480 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque to the rear set of Hankook racing slicks through a six-speed sequential gearbox. The lightweight chassis is rounded out with competition-level aerodynamics and all the mandatory safety equipment.