Marcin R.

Following BMW's withdrawal from the German STW series. Audi has also decided to pull out from the series. This means that there will no longer be any A4s in touring car races, except for Australia. Audi and BMW are both focusing their efforts on Le Mans and F1 (BMW only for that series).<p>This is a shame. However, the BTCC and STW have only themselves to blame. Outlawing AWD and 5 valve/cyl. engines pretty much killed the Audi program. I think that Audi did the FWD A4 this past season just to get some experience and justify the development money they spent in the past. This means that the only factory teams in the STW are Opel and Honda. Maybe the revised version of the ITC will come to Germany soon.<p>(This info is from Autosport)<p>Marcin R.<br>---<br>'98.5 A4 1.8Tqms<br>

Mike Zamarocy

As they will now become collector's items!<p>Well, at LEAST BMW is still in the USA Sports Car Racing Series with their M3. And I HAVE heard rumors that the new M Coupe was made so as to perhaps run them in the FIA GT Series. Could be the Porsche Killer????

Marcin R.

Interesting thought. Looks like the new FIA GT series will be very interesting next year. The GT2 cars were just "moving chicanes" this year. Obstacles for the GT1 cars to get by.<p>I read in last week's Autosport that the Porsche 911 GT2 will be given an 8 cylinder engine to better compete against the Vipers. If BMW throw in the M-Coupe then there will be some interesting competition. However, how will they get the requisite 450-600 bhp from their engine is a mystery. BTW, do you know what the power rating on the M3 is in North America? The race version that is.<p>Marcin R.<br>---<br>'98.5 A4 1.8Tqms

Mike Zamarocy

I don't know the USA version M3 Race HP, but I do know that they are entered in both GT2 and GT3. Also, they have been doing quite well in both, with my friend getting a lot of wins in GT3. Also, if I am not correct, I think the M3's did quite well at LeMans too in their Class - but of course that is never shown as the cameras only seem to follow the overall race leaders.<p>So to massage a lot of HP out of the M3 engine is not too much of a problem. And when you think of the smaler platform it would be in - M Coupe - then it should be a winner.