Motor Racing Legends got their 2026 season underway with a pre-season test at Snetterton, and the Norfolk circuit didn’t disappoint. Among the usual historic GT machinery, two cars stole the show: Chris Ward’s PTG E46 BMW M3 GTR — the Grand-Am beast packing an S62 V8 from the E39 M5 — and a Lotus 25 with genuine Jim Clark history. With the Donington Historic just weeks away, it was quite the curtain-raiser.

Amongst the usual selection of MGB’s and Lotus Elans was a monstrous BMW. A BMW M3 GTR nonetheless. Not quite the all-dominant ALMS spec, but the PTG E46 M3 GTR made its way to Snetterton with historic racer, Chris Ward, behind the wheel.

The car was developed by Tom Milner’s Prototype Technology Group (PTG) and ran in the Grand-Am series (known as the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship these days). The rulebook showed that the car could use any engine from the manufacturer’s line-up, and therefore, a S62 V8 from the E39 M5 was shoehorned into the front of the M3 to create an absolute monster.

The M3 made its debut at the 2001 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona with Terry Borcheller, Toney Jennings, Boris Said, and Hans Stuck behind the wheel. An unfortunate mechanical gremlin ended their day with 6 hours still to run, but it had made its mark. From then on, extra weight and less power were applied to hamper the BMW, but it still racked up three GT-Class wins throughout the year, with third and fourth in the drivers’ standings.

Another unique car to run throughout the weekend was the Lotus 25. Less GT related but still a significant car in the history of motorsport as the 1963 F1 title-winning car with Jim Clark behind the wheel.

This particular chassis was raced by Clark himself during the 63 season and secured him victory at Pau, Imola and Silverstone before being handed over to his teammate, Trevor Taylor.

Check out the full gallery below from the weekend’s running. We will be back with coverage of the MRL Donington Historic featuring GT3 Legends on 1-3 of May.

Photos by Dom Vincent