Interested teams can now place orders for the track-ready Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 which carries a €397,460 price tag, including 19% VAT (€334,000 without VAT). Mercedes also announced that it will put in place a motorsport customer unit for SLS AMG GT3 customers with HWA AG.
Mercedes worked closely with HWA during the development of the race car and HWA also runs the AMG-Mercedes DTM racing outfit.
In stock the engine in the SLS AMG produces 571hp and 650Nm of torque. Delivery of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 will take place in February 2011.
Mercedes-Benz has begun taking orders for the GT3 racing version of its SLS AMG Gullwing sports car - at the equivalent of R3.2-million each! The SLS AMG GT3 has been designed as a customer sports car for sprint and endurance races.
The car's competition debut - as part of the test programme - will be in the VLN race at the legendary Nurburgring at the end of September.
Mercedes-Benz motorsport chief Norbert Haug said: "The Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 marks the beginning of a new era in Mercedes-Benz customer motorsport.
"This is an exciting and spectacular sports car for dedicated private teams and talented private drivers."
The GT3 takes the Gullwing design to the next level with a new front apron with a splitter, a central air vent in the bonnet, wider front and rear wings, side wheel-arch air vents, side skirts with cooling ducts for the rear brakes, a smooth underbody with a rear diffuser and an adjustable rear aerofoil.
The FIA will determine the maximum allowable output of the dry-sump AMG 6.3-litre V8 and the car's minimum weight on the "Balance of Performance" principle, so that all GT3 racing cars are as evenly matched as possible
The GT3 has a sequential six-speed racing transmission with paddle shift, a multi-disc locking differential and traction control.
The engine and transmission are a connected by a carbon-fibre drive-shaft running at engine speed inside a torque tube.
The steel roll cage protects the driver and adds extra stiffening to the car's aluminium spaceframe. The 120-litre, carbon-fibre safety fuel tank with inner bladder is mounted above the rear axle and the car has a built-in fire-extinguisher system.