With most of the world’s roadways growing ever more crowded, and with penalties for speeding becoming ever more draconian—a Swedish man faced a $1 million fine in Switzerland for doing 180 mph in a 75-mph zone in his Mercedes SLS AMG last year—it’s getting harder and harder to exercise exotic sports cars at anywhere near their limits. And yet, in this golden age of performance, there have never been more high-horsepower cars on the market.

So it stands to reason that track-day events are becoming increasingly popular globally. Automakers, especially sports-car companies, have struck gold in track-ready machines such as the Porsche GT3 Cup S, the Ferrari 599XX, the Lotus 2-Eleven, and, now, the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3.

The $456,500 (334,000 euros) SLS GT3 is a non-streetable racer built to comply with FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) GT3 regulations, for customers who want to compete in long- and short-distance events. Certification will be finished in March. According to AMG project leader Christoph Jung, however, most of  the 20 units built this year will be bought by enthusiasts to drive at weekend track-day events. (AMG will build 30 SLS GT3s a year starting in 2012.)