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"   CHICAGO \u2014 The Bimmer team announced its plan to return to the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) with this gorgeous winged M3 coupe that&amp;#039;ll hit the tracks starting late in the 2008 season\u2014with some eco-friendly power, no less. It&amp;#039;ll be the first V8-powered M3 ever raced, as all previous production M3s were powered by six-cylinder engines. BMW says the P65 race version of the 4-liter V-8 engine produces 485 hp and uses a 6-speed sequential racing transmission. The widened and lengthened steel and carbon-fiber body is ultralight, so the car weighs in at just 2565 pounds. It uses 15-in. racing disc brakes with six pistons up front and four in the rear, while mounting a 29-gallon tank for endurance racing.   For next year&amp;#039;s full season, BMW will campaign two of the M3 racers in continuing its partnership with Rahal Letterman Racing, a joint venture between Indy champ Bobby Rahal and late-night host David Letterman. Through it all, the M3 will line up in the highly competitive ALMS GT2 class against defending champ Ferrari, plus Aston Martin, Dodge, Ford, Panoz and Porsche\u2014tough stuff, indeed. BMW did, however, win the very first race of the ALMS in a V12 LMR back in 1999 at the Twelve Hours of Sebring, then taking the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans\u2014a first for an ALMS team. In all, BMW teams have won 15 times in the series, nine in GT2 and six in LMP1 class.   Last month, the ALMS series announced a partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy and SAE International to become the first motorsports group to meet those agencies&amp;#039; criteria for green racing. ALMS also announced its Green Challenge competition, which will encourage manufacturers to introduce and develop more environmentally friendly powered racers using fuels like E85 and clean diesel. \u2014Jim McCraw "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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