KTM X-Bow news - X drive - 2008

The KTM X-Bow is alive. See, while we've seen the stunning lightweight on show stands and even our own photoshoot, we'd yet to see it actually move.

Until this weekend, in the FIA GT Championship at Silverstone. A pair of Reiter-prepped X-Bows entered the GT4 category, finishing fifth and sixth in the Sunday race as well as winning the Sports Light division - unsurprising, that, as it has only been created this year.

Nonetheless, the race-ready X-Bows looked awesome out on the track. The guys at Reiter told us that, aside from beefed-up suspension and a revised exhaust system ('to make it sound better', apparently, which is the sort of engineering we approve of), the X-Bows needed very little work.

Which bodes well for the road-going X-Bow, which launches in June with the first deliveries set to arrive in August. KTM has already sold the first 100 cars - limited edition 'Dallara series' models - and says it has orders for a further 300.

In even better news, KTM chiefs hinted to us that a track-only special could appear next year, along with a tuned-up road version.

The hotter X-Bow could develop up to 300bhp from its Audi-sourced two-litre TFSI - the standard X-Bow gets around 240bhp - which kicks it straight into Ariel Atom Supercharged territory. Still a bit short of the Ariel Atom 500, though.

So, if you like your lightweights, the future's bright. The future's, erm...