Click above to view the KTM X-Bow at Wembley in high resolution

One look at the KTM X-Bow should tell you it's about as close to a race car for the road as you're ever likely to see. Add to that the European GT4 Sports Light championship and it pretty much seals the deal. But if that still isn't enough, here comes the news that the 2008 Race of Champions has chosen the super-light Austrian track car to compete in this year's event.

It was bound to happen, but it hurts nonetheless. The KTM X-Bow is hot off the presses, and it didn't take long for some brand new ones to show up on the 'Ring in Germany with their new owners behind the wheel. That hallowed circuit has led to the demise of more than a few machines, not to mention their drivers, and will inevitably continue to claim casualties as racers test their skills on its winding asphalt. The latest victim is one of the aforementioned German-powered, Austrian-built sportscars from KTM.

Click above for a hi-res gallery of the KTM X-Bow

Although KTM has been making motorcycles since 1934, it's new to the car business. Evidently, no one told them that if you're going to go back on something you said in the auto business, it's supposed to be really disappointing. Instead, KTM has announced its intention to bring the X-Bow track car to the United States and make it street-legal to boot, despite previously saying that the X-Bow would only be sold in Europe and Asia and that it would be confined to the track.

Click above for a high-res gallery of the KTM X-Bow.

Click above for a high-res gallery of the GT4 KTM X-Bow.

Click above for a high-res gallery of the KTM X-Bow.

KTM confirmed today what it announced during the reveal of the production X-Bow in Geneva: it will be campaigning a race-spec version of its four-wheeled track tool in this year's FIA GT4 European Cup in the new "Sports Light" class. The team will be operated by Reiter Engineering, the same outfit that worked with Lamborghini on the GT1, GT2 and GT3 races in previous years, as a way to remain focused on more consumer-oriented versions of the X-Bow.

Click above for a high-res gallery of the production KTM X-Bow.

A year ago, we had our first formal introduction to the KTM X-Bow concept. After a scant 12 months, the famed motorcycle manufacturer has officially unveiled the production version of the X-Bow, and over 2,000 people have lined up to get their hands on one of the most driver-focused vehicles to be released since the introduction of the Ariel Atom.

Click above for a high-res gallery of the KTM X-Bow