In the early days of racing, liveries only consisted of a number and (sometimes) a couple of stripes. Visuals on race cars began to evolve dramatically in the 1960s, when a huge number of sponsors joined the sport. Nowadays, they're mostly the work of skilled designers and sometimes recall famous layouts from the past. Team Black Falcon's new livery for its Mercedes-AMG GT3 isn't one of them, but it's special nonetheless.

Because it was designed by rock band Linkin Park (or at least someone working with the group).

Created for the Blancpain Endurance Series, the livery consists of red and black stripes and shapes over the car's silver paint. It also has black lightning bolts, but its most important highlights are the "Linkin Park" lettering on the massive rear wing and the band's log on the engine hood and doors.

There's no information as to what brought Team Black Falcon and Linkin Park together, but it's worth mentioning that this is not the first time the California-based group has something to do with Mercedes-Benz. Last year, the band did the soundtack for a Mercedes-AMG C63 promo video. Both last year's promo and the new livery could be a way to promote Linkin Park's next album, which is likely to be launched by the end of 2016.

This specific race car was designed for the Spa 24 Hours race in Belgium over the last weekend in July 2016 and given Team Black Falcon's success in the series so far, it should get a lot of attention.

Continue reading for the full story.

Why it matters

Racing liveries created or inspired by rock bands aren't something you see every day at the track, but if a team can promote just about any brand and product by placing their logos on the body, I don't see why they can't do the same with artists. And, it's enough to take a look at Linkin Park's recent activity to understand why.

Founded in 1996 under a different name, the group rose to international fame with its debut album in 2000 and enjoyed massive success until the release of its third release in 2007 and again in the early 2010s. Since late 2014, Linkin Park hasn't been doing much and it now needs all the attention it can get before launching a new album in 2016.

Not a bad strategy if you ask me, and I must say I'd like to see other rock bands promote their records on race cars. For instance, I wouldn't mind seeing Slayer's logo on a McLaren. Now that would be cool!

Mercedes-AMG GT3

Read our full review on the Mercedes-AMG GT3 here.