Mercedes-AMG’s GT4 weapon will make its racing debut in this weekend’s VLN round at the Nurburgring Nordschleife as part of the new car’s development program.

Mercedes revealed the GT R-based GT4, which is powered by a 4 litre biturbo V8 producing up to 375kW of power and 600Nm of torque (subject to BoP), late last month, advising that it would be run in selected events during the remainder of 2017.

Long-time Mercedes teams Uwe Alzen and Black Falcon will run a car each in the SPX class, given that it has not yet been homologated for the GT4 class.

Uwe Alzen’s drivers for the six-hour race will be the German trio of Fabian Hamprecht, Thomas Jager, and Mike Stursberg.

At Black Falcon, Germans Stefan Karg, Fidel Leib, and Jan Seyffarth, and Spaniard Alexander Toril will be behind the wheel.

“I am looking forward to the first test outing of the Mercedes-AMG GT4 at the Nordschleife in racing conditions,” said head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing Stefan Wendl.

“This is the next step in our comprehensive test and development programme.

“In the process, we are working together with long-standing partners and teams who are running our cars.

“Thus, we are not only collecting further technical insights, but also feedback from the various drivers which we can still incorporate into the car.

First deliveries of the car are scheduled for the end of this year, with a presence in the Australian GT Championship a possibility after category management confirmed that GT4 cars will be eligible to compete in the championship next year.

CLICK HERE for Speedcafe.com’s earlier story about the unveiling of the Mercedes-AMG GT4.