You’ve likely seen the BMW M2 CS. You’ve likely marvelled at its purist spec, its outrageous power output and the wondrousness of its existence, too. Well now it’s time to imagine racing one.

The CS launches, as M Division’s boss promised, with a racing twin. One primed and ready for taking on the Nürburgring 24 Hours if that’s your bag. Which it really ought to be. It replaces racing versions of the M235i and M240i, so represents a big step up in nameplate for BMW’s lowest-rung racecar.

“We are continuing the tradition of providing ambitious teams and drivers with an affordable gateway to racing,” says BMW’s motorsport boss Jens Marquardt, “this time with a car that meets all the requirements of a pedigree racing car better than any previous entry-level model before it.”

How affordable? Um, 95,000 euros. Not cheap, but not a huge chunk more than you’ll pay for a stock M2 CS, either. Though as you’d expect, all the frivolous niceties of a road car have been swapped for more prosaic racing bits.

So ahead of your FIA-approved Sabelt bucket seat won’t be a fancy CarPlay-enabled touchscreen, but a race logger. The brake and suspension components have all been swapped for hardier motorsport-spec items while there’s a stronger fuel tank, a quick-release bonnet and an air jack system.

What there isn’t – yet – is the full 450hp of the road car. Due to boring old rulebooks, the M2 CS Racing puts out between 276 and 360bhp, but BMW’s working on a version that’ll keep up with the showroom CS, with different ‘power sticks’ on offer to quickly switch the 3.0-litre straight-six turbo’s output depending on the regulations of the series you’ve entered. Phew.

STORY Stephen Dobie