(for posterity, I also captured it as a downloadable Quicktime movie)

UPDATE:
Here’s another GP-on-the-ring video, presumably GP1966 annoying a BMW M3 on all the corners …

And a whole pile more, Flash’ed together over at MotoringFile

Of course, there’s an argument that this is a GP, and whatever comes next is something else …

UPDATE:
If it turns out to be this car, it’s very disappointing

Gabe’s review is well worth reading, if only for for surprising (to me) comments where he favourably compares the GP to this new “fastest MINI”. It’s also interesting to read his comments about the new car’s brakes, and electronic EDLC (in lew of an LSD). Here’s a few choice quotes:
… It feels every bit as fast as the 2006 JCW GP was with an enormous amount of torque (206 ft lbs of it) available almost instantly in the rev range … while the GP may have had similar numbers, it’s the new JCW’s power delivery that really sets it apart …
.. four-pot Brembo brakes … live up to the hype in that they are better than the single-pot set-up on the stock MCS or the previous JCW GP MCS. However more than one of us who drove the JCW and an R56 MCS back to back felt that the stock braking set-up actually had more feel …
… the EDLC is different enough from the feel of a traditional LSD that some might miss the mechanical quality of the latter. Limited Slip always had a feel of pulling and shooting you out of corners in a satisfying way …
… make no mistake, the new factory JCW MINI goes and stops better than any factory MINI yet … Yet doesn’t offer any of the distinction that an M Car would much less what the GP had …
… is this car equivilent to a GP? In some ways yes. It’s easily as fast, sounds arguably as good and stops better. However for me I wanted to love this car not only for the way it made every drive feel special but also for the sacrifices it demands from the driver – While it does have many of the attributes you’d hope for, it just never really moved me like the GP …

I know which car I prefer

Head over to the MINI World Challenge 2008 website for write-up and loads more pictures

Don writes “I own GP 1463, it’s black with green stripes and mirrors now” … So Don’s GP is no longer Thunder Blue – but apart from that, it’s still a GP, with the unique wheels, aero kit and rear wing. And it surely still has the “1463 of 2000″ decal on the dash.

I’ve seen other GPs with different wheels – I’ve even seen one with rear seats installed! And of course many GPs have had engine, suspension, stereo or similar modifications. But then, there’s the sad story of GP0448 – salvage titled and apparently no longer with original GP engine (or at least intercooler), with “mimic” GP wheels, and a worrying history. Is that car still a GP?