Austrian sports car and motorbike manufacturer KTM is developing a road-legal version of its X-Bow GT2 race car, which will rival low-volume lightweights including the Radical Rapture and Dallara Stradale. It will be KTM's second road car, following its open-roof X-Bow sibling, which has been sold in various forms since 2008. 

• This is KTM's second road car
• Could come with same 606hp, 791Nm engine as GT2 car
• The GT2 tips the scales at just over 1,000kg

It wears a completely bespoke body shell and is substantially different in its positioning to the X-Bow, touting power and performance specifications that line it up as a viable rival to established supercars. 

Power comes from a rear-mounted 2.5-litre turbocharged five-cylinder engine, as used by the Audi RS3 hot hatch, though the GT2 racer boosts output to 606hp and 791Nm, compared to the X-Bow R's 298hp and 400Nm. 

KTM has yet to confirm whether the road-going engine will be tuned to the same specification as the race unit. Drive is channeled to the rear axle through a seven-speed sequential gearbox and a limited-slip differential. 

Fundamentally, the GT2 is based around the same Dallara-designed, 80kg carbon fibre monocoque as the X-Bow, which KTM says "has been tried and tested in a dozen crashes since 2008". For the hardtop car it is paired with an FIA-approved steel roll cage. A jetfighter canopy lid – made of carbon fibre – provides access to the cabin, but small glass windows at the side can also be fully opened. 

All up, KTM says the X-Bow GT2 racer tips the scales at 1,048kg dry. Added equipment necessary for the road car's homologation will no doubt push that figure up slightly, but engineers will work together with KTM's race team to "focus on lightweight construction" throughout the development process. 

KTM will release further details closer to the X-Bow GT2's launch.

Do you think KTM should launch the car here? Let us know in the comments.