The Mini John Cooper Works GP is almost ready for prime time

Mini this weekend showed off its John Cooper Works GP hatchback to the public for the first time.     

It was still clad in camouflage, mind you, but it nevertheless arrived at the Nurburgring as part of the 24-hour race this past weekend.    

It cooked its way around the 'Ring in less than 8 minutes.

That is a huge leap forward from the last GP variant, which needed 8 minutes and 23 seconds to lap the Green Hell.

While its Nurburgring lap time is new, Mini didn't give out any more details that we didn't already know.     

Its turbocharged four-cylinder gas engine will make in excess of 300 horsepower, but Mini hasn't given an official output yet.    

It'll be pretty easy to tell the GP apart from other John Cooper Works creations, because it's rocking some crazy fender flares and a big ol' wing out back.     

Only 3,000 models will be built.   

Since it's unclear how many are set aside for each market, it's likely that your home country will be getting far fewer than that total number.

Keep scrolling or clicking to check out even more pictures of the Mini John Cooper Works GP.