Be afraid, it’s the Merc AMG GT3

Top Gear doffs its cap to you, AMG. Here is the brand new Mercedes AMG GT3, the car that AMG will enter into the 2016 GT3 season, taking over duties from the SLS AMG GT3.

And to underscore the passing of the baton, there'll be a passing of the engine, because we've just found out this new AMG GT3 racer won't use the brand new twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 from the road-going GT.

Oh no, it'll use the glorious 6.2-litre V8 from the outgoing SLS AMG GT3, which means zero turbos, lots of revs and a soundtrack that'd declog your arteries. Mercedes AMG itself says it will ring in the motorsport season with "the sonorous sound of the V8".

There's no word on power output, but over 550bhp would be a good shout. It's hooked up to a six-speed sequential gearbox powering the rear wheels.

Of course, the rest of the car is based on the new GT supercar, but here treated to wider tracks, larger air intakes, a bigger diffuser, and of course, the obligatory massive rear wing. Underneath it's all rigid aluminium spaceframe, an integral roll cage and carbon fibre seat pan. There's also aluminium double wishbones all round, too.

There's more, too. The engine cover, doors, front wing, front and rear aprons, sidewalls, side skirts, diffuser, boot lid and wing are all made from carbon fibre too, to help keep weight down. Though no figure is given, expect it to be light.

"We are entering a hard fought and hotly contested competitive segment with the new Mercedes-AMG GT3," says AMG boss Tobias Moers. "You can only give credible proof of your ambition to lead if you're beating the very best in the game."

It's certainly got a tough job on its hands, facing off against some of the hardest GT3 cars in the world, including Lamborghini, Aston, Ferrari, Porsche, Nissan... the list goes on.

Not only that, but it's got big shoes to fill, too. Since AMG began the customer sports programme in 2010, the SLS AMG GT3 has achieved some 182 overall victories, 98 pole positions and 930 top ten positions.

In 2014 alone, the SLS GT3 scored 34 overall race victories, six titles in championships across the globe, two endurance race victories, 52 class victories, 101 podium positions, 228 top ten positions, 29 pole positions and 416 race starts. That's... a lot.

So, what do you think of the new wideboy?