Mercedes-AMG has confirmed that a race car based on its new GT sports car will be launched in 2016 as a successor to the hugely-successful SLS AMG GT3. We’ll get our first look at the new race car at next month’s 2015 Geneva Motor Show but we’ve already been given a taste in the form of these teaser shots.

To be known simply as the GT3, the new race car will be offered up to customer teams all around the globe, including here in the U.S. where it will be sold through Mercedes-AMG's Customer Sports division. We can see that the designers have implemented a much wider track than the road car as well as a new grille whose shape is reminiscent of the design used on Mercedes racers of the 1950s, like the legendary 300 SLR.

As its name suggests, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 is being designed to the FIA’s GT3 specifications meaning it will go up against the likes of the Aston Martin Vantage GT3, Audi R8 LMS ultra, Bentley Continental GT3, Dodge Viper GT3-R, NissanGT-R NISMO GT3, Lamborghini Huracán GT3, Porsche 911 GT3 and various other production-based race cars in GT3-spec competition.

Power should come from a revised version of the twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 that powers the GT road car, though we could see the stock seven-speed dual-clutch ‘box replaced by a sequential unit. Pricing will likely start at close to $500k including taxes, which is roughly what you had to pay for the outgoing SLS AMG GT3. A more basic version of the GT3 will eventually form the basis of a one-make racing series Mercedes-AMG is planning.

Note, we can also expect a road-going version of the new race car at some point, but it will feature a unique name since Mercedes-AMG isn’t keen to call at a GT3 as well. This will be a separate model to the planned Black Series, whose launch is likely several years away still.