Chris Harris is a lucky man. This we know. But he’s further proved this point by being given the keys and the pit crew to an Audi R8 V10 road car and an R8 LMS Ultra GT3 racecar and an empty Nürburgring grand prix track.
The aim of this exercise was to see how closely related the street car and track car are, if at all. You may be surprised by Harris’ discovery.
We’re a bit late with this news, but we couldn’t let it go unmentioned. A couple of weekends back Audi completed its third 24 hour race victory in 71 days when it won the Spa 24 hour race.
The Spa success sits alongside Audi’s 11th Le Mans 24 hour race and first Nürburgring 24 hour title. We reckon that’s good enough to label it an unofficial 24 hour triple crown.
At Spa it was the #16 Team Phoenix car driven by Andrea Piccini, René Rast and Frank Stippler which won the day. They were joined on the podium by the #1 Team WRT R8, crewed by Christopher Haase, Christopher Mies and Stéphane Ortelli, who came home in second place.
Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich was pretty happy with what he saw: “Winning three 24-hour races within just 71 days is another milestone in the successful motorsport history of our company. The field at Spa was unique and enormously competitive. There were more than 20 vehicles in contention for victory. In the end, the combination of quality, reliability and speed for which Audi is known prevailed yet again.â€
It was a typically wet day in the Ardennes and at times the rain was so heavy the Safety Car was brought out until conditions improved. Audi’s official word along with a dozen pics of the winning car can be viewed after the break. They’re complemented by an unofficial highlights package thanks to Mattzel89.
In further good news for Bathurst 12 Hour organisers the Anglo-American United Autosports team has confirmed they will be bringing their Audi R8 LMS down under to compete in the race (24–26 February).
At the wheel will be US-based South African Mark Patterson, Hong Kong’s Frank Yu and Hong Kong-based Frenchman Alain Li. With an average age of 53 they’re living the dream it must be said. It will be the first time at Mount Panorama for all three drivers, but they have solid endurance experience behind them.
Richard Dean, Managing Director and co-owner of United Autosports said: “I’m really looking forward to taking the team to Bathurst, which is one of those iconic circuits where we vowed we would race when Zak and I set up the team, so it’s fulfilling another of our dreams.
“Although we don’t underestimate what a difficult circuit Mount Panorama is to learn, I’m confident with Mark, Frank and Alain in the team’s Audi R8 LMS, they will be quick learners and I’m expecting a top result, especially after an Audi won the event last year!â€
It’s now over three years since Audi first released a racing version of their R8 supercar. In that time it has won over 110 races, including the 2011 Bathurst 12 Hour, and claimed 12 national/international titles. The R8 LMS ultra is the latest incarnation of Audi’s GT3 racer and is set to be launched in March next year.
The 5.2 litre V10 now produces a tidy 419kW (570hp) and has had its exhaust tuned for better mid-range response. The transmission has also been fiddled with, so too the body, with revised aerodyamics and lighter doors.
If you’d like to buy one of these beauties you’ll need around half a million bucks, plus running costs. If you already have an R8 LMS and times are tough, fear not, Audi will help bring your car to 2012 spec for a fraction of the cost.
We’ve already brought you word that the Audi R8 LMS claimed a one-two victory at the 2011 Bathurst 12 hour. Now, after the break, you can read Audi’s official brag sheet from. Also included are over 40 images from the event.
The factory-backed Audi assault on the Bathurst 12 hour has borne fruit with the team crossing the line in first and second place. The only major drama faced by the Audi R8s was which car would cross the line first.
The #8 car, with Darryl O’Young at the wheel, was leading by just under a minute with around 10 minutes left to race when it needed to pit for a quick fuel stop. However, O’Young was able to maintain his winning position and rejoined the race with 15 second margin.
In the end, despite Craig Lowndes setting a new Bathurst 12 hour lap record (2:09.0861), the Australian crew in car #7 had to settle for second place and a dream finish for the Audi team.
Claiming the final podium place was the #29 VIP Petfoods Porsche GT3 R led by Tony Quinn. A cracking result from a local team that has solid European enduro experience.
A three hour highlights package of the race is scheduled for broadcast on OneHD at 7:30pm, Saturday 19 February (check your local guides).
Audi is readying itself to tackle Porsche head on with plans to produce a road-going R8 GT3, based on the V10 powered LMS racecar. The R8 LMS made a successful motorsport debut in 2009 very nearly winning the Nürburgring 24 hour race at its first attempt as well as delivering the 2009 FIA European GT3 drivers title to Phoenix Racing.
The racecar program is over subscribed, with an extra 30 cars set to be made this year, in addition to the 24 made in 2009. Audi insiders have confirmed a road-going prototype is currently under going evaluation, but a final decision on series production has yet to be made.
So, what do you reckon—should Audi add to the already impressive R8 production line up? I know what my answer is. If you’re struggling to make a decision check out the images after the jump and see if they can inspire to come to a conclusion.
[Source: Autocar]
Back in 2008 Audi launched the race-going R8 LMS. The car was prepped for the 2009 season ready to race in GT3 categories across the globe.
Indeed, the four-pronged R8 attack on the 2009 Nürburgring 24 hour race almost ended Porsche’s recent domination of the event. The #99 Phoenix Racing entry held the lead for 17 hours until a drive shaft problem cost valuable time. In the end it was the #97 Abt Sportline car that finished in second place, highlighting the impressive debut by the R8. As well as that, the R8 LMS went on to secure three championships and 23 race wins during 2009.
For the 2010 season Audi have made some changes to their go fast machines to ensure they remain capable of leading the field. The ‘Evolution’ updates include revisions to the chassis, suspension and cooling systems. While on-board electronics and the race-tuned exhaust system have been further enhanced.
Customer deliveries of the 2010 spec cars have started, with the US-British alliance of United Autosports being the first in line. If you would like to join them and you have a spare €300K+ burning a hole in your pocket, well, I’m sorry, but you’re out of luck. The 2010 production run has sold out and all customer cars will be delivered before the end of April. If you’re still keen you’ll need to try your luck with the ‘Race Experience’ program or get your name on the list for the 2011 production run.
Owners of 2009 spec R8 LMS cars are able to make the same changes to the 2010 models to ensure they can now race with the latest specification.
Australian race fans will get their chance to see the 2009-spec R8 LMS up close next weekend at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide. Mark Eddy, 2008 Australian GT Champion, is the first private buyer outside of Europe to get his hands on the purpose-built GT3 racer. Find out more on the Australian GT website.
Audi have recently announced they will be offering cashed up wannabe racing drivers a seat in an R8 LMS. Two GT3 cars will be prepared by the Joest Racing Team, the guys responsible for six of Audi’s recent Le Mans victories.
Joest will be entering up to six VLN races at the Nürburgring this year, among other activities, and if you have the cash for this “Race Experience” you could find yourself in the hot seat.
“For the first time, the Audi race experience offers customers the opportunity to participate in a race with a professional Audi ‘factory’ team without having to enter into a long-term commitment or to make a high financial investment,†explains Klaus Demel, who is in charge of the Audi driving experience. “I’m very happy that we’ve been able to win Audi Sport and Reinhold Joest’s team as a partners for this project.â€
Joest kicks off their VLN season on 24 April, so you’d better start saving your pennies!
Audi Motorsport went to the Nürburgring 24 hour race this year with high hopes. Four new R8 LMS GT3 category racers were entered with some of the sport’s biggest names at the wheel. To subject the new racecars to such a tough test was a big commitment.
This commitment almost paid the most handsome dividends with the #99 Phoenix Racing entry coming close to posting a maiden victory. It lead the race for almost 17 hours before a drive shaft problem with five hours to go saw them lose valuable time. Despite this, the car was still able to finish strongly in fifth position overall.
However, so well placed were the big R8s that the #97 Abt Sportline car was able to claim an impressive podium finish, coming home in second position, behind Nürburgring 24 hour race specialists Manthey Racing. Running in the SP9 GT3 class the Abt Sportline machine, driven by Christian Abt, Jean-François Hemroulle, Pierre Kaffer and Lucas Luhr, finished two laps ahead of its nearest rival, a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, to win its class. In doing so, they completed 154 laps, which broke the previous distance record for laps completed in the 24 hour race by three laps. They were on the lead lap nearing race end, too, before a cunning tactical move saw the winning Manthey car squeeze in one more lap.
The #98 and #100 cars suffered some issues throughout the race, but were still able to finish in good form, crossing the line in positions 12 and 23 respectively. When you consider the #100 car suffered its problems very early on in the race, to finish in the top 25 after coming back from 166th was a great result.
Head of Audi Motorsport, Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, was well pleased with the outcome, “For the Audi R8 LMS, this race was a final test under extreme conditions on the world’s longest race track. We were able to show that our new GT3 sports car is absolutely competitive for customer sport. And the number 97 Audi R8 LMS ran without the slightest problems despite the incredibly high speed. We’re going to analyze the problems that occurred on the other three vehicles and feed the findings into the final version of the R8 LMS to be delivered to customers starting this fall. We know that we’ve got a very good base.”
Another huge image gallery of over 80 images can be viewed at AUSringers.com, along with press statements from all the teams. For an excellent summary of all Audis competing at the Nürburgring 24 hour race this year check out Fourtitude.com.
UPDATE: For an extra special treat, Audi R8 LMS fans should click here.
Last August when the Audi R8 GT3 sports car was revealed you probably giggled with the excitement of a six-year-old like I did. Well, I’m pleased to say you can giggle some more as news of these awesome looking machines starting to reach customers.
Audi Sport Italia have been handed the keys to the Audi R8 LMS. The handover of chassis number 101, the first customer car, was made on Tuesday in the Audi Forum Neckarsulm. Emilio Radaelli, Team Manager of Audi Sport Italia, accepted the R8 LMS from Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich.
The R8 GT3 will make a dual race debut in mid-April with both the French GT Championship and the ADAC GT Masters starting on the same weekend (10-13 April). That marks the start of a long campaign for the new machines, with a full list of events available after the jump.
Remember when you were a kid and you had your dream car, a car, that in your mind, you would take from the factory and make it the fastest damn thing the world had ever seen. Well Audi has gone part way to helping you fulfill your dream with the release of the R8 GT3 race version. Clearly the guys down at Audi Sport, quattro GmbH and Audi Hungaria Motor Kft had plenty of Meccano when they were kids and it looks as though they shared similar dreams to the rest of us. Fortunately, unlike the chavtastic ricers you see doof-doofing at your local mall, these guys have actually put their Meccano skills to good use.
The R8 GT3 is a race ready customer car that meets all GT3 racing regulations out of the box. That means the 500hp+ (375kW) normally aspirated V8 is driven via the rear wheels only. A race strength 6 speed sequential transmission has been developed. Amazingly many of the suspension components are standard OEM parts. Three purpose built factories will be opened to service the vehicles in Ingolstadt, Necksarlum and Györ. Rich buggers living our dreams will be able to take delivery of their new dream racecar in the latter half of 2009.