BLACK TRACKED

MERCEDES-AMG BUILDS A TRACK TOY THAT'S QUICKER THAN A GT3 CAR IN A STRAIGHT LINE, AND LETS US LOOSE. PRAISE BE

- ANGUS MACKENZIE

I SEE LIGHTS IN the mirror, looming fast. I keep right through the sweeping Courbe du Garlaban right-hander, all the way to entry of the Virage du Lac, a looping left. Two-time Bathurst 12-Hour winner Jules Gounon doesn't need a second invitation: There's a flash of silver and a growling bark as his Mercedes-AMG GT Track Series dives past under brakes. Gounon goes deep, then pivots left, using power to rotate the car and get to the left side of the track for the fast-approaching second-gear right-hander leading on to the start-finish straight.

I watch the tail of the silver Mercedes glide as Pirelli slicks paint two fat black lines on the tarmac. Jules Gounon looks like he's enjoying his job.

Gounon is honing the final chassis setup of the Track Series, the ultimate track-day car for the gentleman driver who has everything. Built by Mercedes-AMG Motorsport, the Track Series pulls together hardware from the roadgoing Mercedes-AMG GT Black series and the MercedesAMG GT3 and GT4 race cars to create the nearest thing to a Bathurst-winning Mercedes you can drive without a competition licence. And that's not marketing hype: by the end of our session at Circuit Paul Ricard, Gounon had run a lap in the Track Series that was quicker than his best time there in the GT3.

Horsepower helps. FIA regulations restrict the GT3's 6.2-liter naturally aspirated V8 to about 404kW and 650Nm in baseline tune. The dry-sump, flat-plane crank 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 in the GT Track Series - the same engine that powers the road-going GT Black Series - punches out a thundering 540kW and 850Nm. The GT3 has a homologated base weight of 1285kg. The Track Series tips the scales at 1400kg. You don't need to be a maths genius to figure out what's going on here.