BMW M2

MORE COMPACT AND CHEAPER THAN ITS M3/M4 SIBLINGS, YET VERY NEARLY AS QUICK. IS THIS THE BEST DRIVER'S CAR IN THE M DIVISION CATALOGUE?

- GEORG KACHER

THE STARTING formation on the makeshift grid is an odd mix of almost new and ostentatiously unfinished metal. The pair of thinly disguised M2 pre-production cars – one manual and one automatic – is led by a hyper blue M4 Competition with Dirk Hacker, chief engineer of the BMW M division, at the wheel. I am right behind him in the lairier of the two M2s which wears a psychedelic multi-blue, multipattern livery. In the rear-view mirror, the other M2 looms large, LED lights on, dressed in the brands generic swirly trompe l´oeil shrinkwrap which reveals more than it hides as soon as your eyes have sussed out how to separate shapes from surfaces.

Full concentration time. Outside, it’s already 33 degrees, and the track is clear for the familiarisation lap. The Salzburgring is embedded in a picturesque remote valley east of, you guessed it, Salzburg. The circuit features one very long elevated straight, two reasonably fast 120-degree corners at both ends, a small infield filled with some wriggly stuff, and the extra-wide start-finish boulevard from where an afterthought chicane takes you to the third and final flat-out section. Sounds and looks pretty straightforward, but when you come flying for the first time over the fastest blind brow at an indicated 260km/h, ready to brake as hard as you can for the following panoramic right-hander which almost comes full circle before changing direction, heart and throat momentarily morph into one big, wet and heavy gag of flesh.