Will the BMW M2 look like this?

This is not a render of the next M2, BMW's upcoming successor to the sublime 1M Coupe.

This is a render of the M235i Racing, BMW's new entry-level motorsport machine to replace its Z4 racer. But surely, with its box arches and Front Dam Of Many Inlets, it's a heavy hint at how the baby two-door M-car will look when it arrives in 2015?

The M235i Racing is a production-based track-only coupe - sitting on the new 2-Series platform - that costs €59,500 and meets all the requirements to race at the Nürburgring in the VLN Endurance Championship and 24 Hour race.

Taking the current range-topping M235i, BMW has upped the turbocharged 3.0-litre straight-sixer's power to 333bhp, along with fitting a proper mechanical limited slip diff and widening the tracks. It also sits a little lower than the standard car, gets BMW M Performance front and rear spoilers, diffuser and carbon wing mirrors. Oh, and a FIA-approved safety cage and safety fuel tank.

"The basis our engineers had to start with when developing the racing version of the BMW M235i Racing was exceptionally good," BMW Motorsport director Jens Marquardt tells us. "We did not have to make many modifications in order to get the M235i Coupe up and running as a race car."

This bodes well, because it means churning out the new M2 - a car we'd expect to get even more power than this racer's 333bhp, likely from a similar turbo straight six - should be a walk in the park.

How would your perfect M2 look?