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BMW 1 Series M Coupe to Pace Races at Rolex 24 in Daytona

It’s only been a couple of weeks since the launch of the BMW 1 Series M Coupe, but it has already been chosen as a pace car alongside an M3 at the 49th edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, scheduled to take place on January 28-30. This is one of the first opportunities for ‘M’ fans to see the brilliant coupe in action before it goes on sale in May.

"There's no better way to greet your most enthusiastic fans than from the front of the Rolex 24 field. BMW M is synonymous with motorsport. With six BMW-powered entries in this year's field and on the 35th anniversary of our overall win, it's perfect that the new 1 Series M Coupe was chosen as pace car. This will be the first time most fans are able to see our newest M car in action,” said Dan Creed, Vice President of Marketing for BMW of North America.

No modifications were deemed necessary for the 1 Series M Coupe to become a pace car, with the exception of an on-board SPEED television camera that gives viewers a look of the action. That means it still comes with the same 335 horsepower inline-six engine, a 6-speed manual transmission and the same suspension and brake package found in M3 Competition.

BMW has had three class wins at the Rolex 24 in the past, The GT1 victory achieved at the wheel of an M1 driven by ans Stuck and Alf Gebhardt in 1981 and the two back to back GT3 class wins at Daytona in 1997 an 1998 scored by Team PTG M3.

This year also marks the 35th anniversary of BMW's overall win at the classic endurance event, as in 1976, Peter Gregg, Brian Redman and John Fitzpatrick drove a BMW CSL to victory.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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