The Red Bull Ring in Austria served as the venue for the first BMW M Track Day of the year, and by the looks of it, the event was a real hoot. Special guests included YouTuber Joe Achilles and professional drift car driver Joe Hountondji. As always, the real stars were the cars, including a variety of road-going M models and track-only machines such as the M2 CS Racing and the M4 GT4.

With M cars being so powerful and fast, it’s impossible to enjoy the full potential on a public road without risking your license. Therefore, a race track is the ideal venue to push an M car and extract every last drop of performance. It’s worth mentioning the BMW M Track Day allows participants to bring their own cars or hop behind the wheel of a vehicle supplied by the organizer. Courses with a professional instructor are also provided to improve your driving skills.

One of the highlights was the closed room where participants were invited to take a peek at the M4 CSL ahead of its official debut. The M Track Day at the Red Bull Ring took place on May 14, but it wasn’t until about a week later that the limited-run Competition Sport Lightweight was publicly unveiled.

The next M Track Day event in Europe will take place at Hockenheim in Germany on July 8 and 9, with the Nürburgring Nordschleife to follow on September 29. As for North America, the Sonoma Raceway held the first event of the year between May 10 and 15, with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway up next on June 10-12. Circuit of the Americas (July 7-11) and the Monticello Motor Club (October 18-25) are on this year’s schedule as well.

Meanwhile, the Goodwood Festival of Speed taking place later this month will host the world premiere of another M car. We’re talking about the long-awaited M3 Touring, with the next M2 and production-ready XM also earmarked for a 2022 release.

Before the year’s end, we’re going to see the modern-day 3.0 CSL as an M4 CSL-based exclusive model with 600 horsepower, rear-wheel drive, a manual gearbox, and a retro-esque coachbuilt body.

Source: BMW M / YouTube