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Motorsport

This is KTM's X-Bow GTR racer

Published: 12 Feb 2015

Creating the racing version of a road car is traditionally an exercise in removing as much as possible: weight, seats, licence plates, sat nav, manual from the glovebox.

But to create the GT4 version of its X-Bow lightweight, Austrian firm KTM has had to add, rather than remove. Specifically, it's had to add rather a lot of bodywork, on account of the road-going X-Bow not really having any. The race car, as you can see, does.

This, then, is your first proper look at the X-Bow ‘GTR', developed jointly by KTM and racing outfit Reiter Engineering, and set to make its GT4 track debut this spring.

GT4, for the uninitiated, is the most accessible, affordable rung of the FIA's GT racing ladder. It features race cars closely related to their road-going counterparts - including the BMW M3, Nissan 370Z, Lotus Evora and Aston V8 Vantage - but with sticky tyres, more aero, and usually a stripe or two for good measure.

Which means, though KTM has released no tech details on its GTR, that the wingy racer will share much of its hardware with the X-Bow road car. So it'll almost certainly be powered by a VW Group 2.0-litre turbo four driving the rear wheels, with likely power output somewhere between 350-400bhp.

The GTR won't be road-legal, but, like Radical's licence-plate-wearing efforts, we suspect it wouldn't be impossible to squeeze through SVO regulations with a few modifications.

KTM says an X-Bow GTR will set you back 139,000 Euro - the equivalent of just over £100,000. A lot of money for a lightweight, but pretty cheap for a fully fledged racer...

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