ALPINA has been building BMW-based race and road cars for more than 40 years. In the hands of drivers such as Niki Lauda and Jacky Ickx, ALPINA notched up numerous European Touring Car Championships and Nürburgring 24 Hour wins, as well as the 1970 24 Hours of Spa. But, for the last 20 years, the ALPINA name has been absent from international motorsport...

Now it’s back.

The manufacturer will be campaigning a race car based on the BMW ALPINA B6S in the FIA GT3 European Championship, along with other major endurance events. Says ALPINA proprietor Andreas Bovensiepen, “We think the BMW 6 Series – especially with the massive torque of the supercharged 4.4-litre V8 ALPINA engine from the B6S – provides the ideal basis to challenge pure-bred sports cars such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin, within the framework of GT3 regulations.”

Bovensiepen sees GT3, with its line-up of 10 manufacturers, multiple national championships and starting grids of 45 cars in the European Championship, as the “crème de la crème of its kind”. As in the 1970s, ALPINA will also sell race cars to individual campaigners, collectors and race teams.

Text: Charis Whitcombe
Photos: ALPINA