Mercedes has released the first images of a car that it is calling the Concept AMG GT Track Sport running on track at the start of what it described as “an intensive testing phase”.
The camouflaged car is pictured testing at the Bilster Berg resort track in North Rhine-Westphalia, but no further details were divulged in a statement from Mercedes titled “Concept AMG GT Track Sport completes first successful test kilometres”.
Mercedes only hinted at a racing future for the GT Track Sport as the successor to the current AMG GT3, which was released to customers in 2016.
“The radical visual appearance makes it clear that the focus is on maximum driving dynamics, paired with intelligent lightweight construction and a performance characteristic that aims to explore the physical limits,” said Mercedes.
“The concept vehicle has a further optimised weight balance, AMG-typical V8 drive technology, and a sophisticated aerodynamic architecture.”
Mercedes name checked Affalterbach as the location of the development of the car. That is a reference to the new Affalterbach Racing GmbH division established last year.
Mercedes announced the start of the new company in July 2024 at the same time as revealing that a successor to AMG GT3 would be under its umbrella.
A proposed takeover of HWA, which developed the AMG GT3 and the SLS that preceded it, did not go through.
Mercedes is building new premises at Affalterbach that are expected to house its GT3 operations going forwards, but much of the development of the GT Track Sport has been undertaken at Reiter Engineering in Bavaria.
Mercedes announced the start of the new company in July 2024 at the same time as revealing that a successor to AMG GT3 would be developed at its facilities to the north of Stuttgart.
It is expected that the Merc’s new GT3 racer will begin racing in fully-homologated form in 2027. The photographs of the car running follow on from the release of teaser images of the GT Track Sport along an equally perfunctory statement in July.
It talked about the Mercedes-AMG’s “great expertise as a sportscar manufacturer” and the images providing “a preview of a possible expansion of the GT series”.
Mercedes is developing its third-generation GT3 racer in parallel with the road car in much the same way as Toyota is with a car only known so far as the GR GT3 Concept.
The German manufacturer has taken this route because the C192 model GT, which was introduced in 2023 to replace the C190 on which the current Mercedes-AMG GT3 is based, is unsuitable for motorsport.
Mercedes's latest GT car for the road is a 2+2 rather than a two-seater like its predecessor. It is understood that the car is developed around a carbon-composite monocoque, though the only technical detail confirmed so far is that its GT Track Sport is powered by a V8 engine.
Michael Schiebe, chairman of the management board of Mercedes‑AMG GmbH, said in the latest statement: "With the Concept AMG GT Track Sport, we are once again exploring the limits of what is possible.
“We have a world-class team working on this concept with incomparable AMG spirit. It takes us to the physical and driving dynamics limit. We have a vision and make a promise: the future will be extreme."
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