Audi R8 LMS – Automobiles Review

Audi Dominated the 2016 Rolex 24-Hours at Daytona

Audi R8 LMS #44 Magnus Racing won the 24-hour classic with stunning finish. In one of the closest finishes in endurance racing, driver John Potter and racers Andy Lally, Marco Seefried and Audi factory driver, Rene Rast, took the checkered flag after a harsh battle with all the 703 laps and with only a 3.048 seconds lead ahead of the second car! And yes, this is the final result: Audi R8 LMS that shares almost half of its parts with the 2017 Audi R8 production vehicle won in its US racing debut.

Indeed, this was one of the most exciting and competitive races that kick off the IMSA 2016 season where Rene Rast drove the final stint, which required limiting fuel consumption in order to stick to team’s strategy that eventually turned to be the most successful one in the whole event.

Audi R8 LMS #44 Magnus Racing

#9 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS made its path from last place to 8th, backed by its trustworthy teammates. #6 sister vehicle held the lead, but eventually finished 14th in the twenty-two car GTD category. Furthermore, #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports/Krohn Racing race car encountered some technical issues which led to retire after 20 hours and 513 laps of pure racing experience.

The next passionate and fast-paced race will be at Sebring International Raceway on March, 19th, 2016.

And for all the Audi lovers out there: The special R8 LMS will go on sale this Spring.

Audi R8 LMS #44 Magnus Racing

Stay with us for further details!

Source: Audi

February 1, 2016

Audi Team Prepares for the 24-Hour Race at Nürburgring

The revised GT sports car is ready to take the challenge on the 24-hour Nürburgring race from May 16 to 17. Audi team is determined to continue its successful series of races. And the brand with the six circles shows this determination with the debut of the R8 LMS at Geneva Motor Show ten weeks ago.

The redesigned Audi R8 LMS comes with a V10 engine, that delivers 500 hp (367 kW) and whole pack of additional features. In fact, every single component is especially designed to ensure optimal performance on the track. And the track itself is challenging. It was opened back in 1927 and it is the world’s longest track. It is also one of the hardest: there is a stage, that is called “Green Hell”, that requires maximum demands on the drivers and the cars.

In fact, Audi Sport Team Phoenix and Audi Sport Team WRT are each tweaking two Audi R8 LMS vehicles. As you know, WRT team celebrated victory in VLN Endurance Championship in April and Phoenix team won the race back in 2012 and 2014.

The race will include the best driver line-up, that include the 2012 FIA WEC champion Marcel Fässler (CH), DMT drivers Mike Rockenfeller (D) and Nico Müller (CH) and other pilots, that have won different races and competitionsthroughout the years.

In addition, customer teams rely on the Audi R8 LMS Ultra, that won the 24-hour race in 2014 and 2012. Now, in 2015 we all want to see how the redesigned car performs through the “Green Hell”.

Source: Audi

May 12, 2015

CRP Racing Team Competes With Audi R8 LMS ultra

Audi R8 LMS ultra was shown in the beginning of the month, when it participated in the qualification race for the 42nd running of the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Now, Audi customer-racing continues to add new teams with the announcement that CRP Racing is joining the fold. The team competed in the Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) at the Long Beach race.

Behind the steering wheel was James Sofronas who defended his title in the GT class. He also welcomed the talented GMG newcomer Andrew Palmer, to the GT category.

As a matter of fact, the number of Audi R8 LMS customer race teams continues to grow in Pirelli World Challenge. The reason for this is the attractiveness of the global GT3 specification. In addition, there is an emphasis of supporting the teams by the Audi of America customer-racing program.

CRP Racing has received great support from Audi and this is one of the key reasons for the team to switch to the R8 LMS ultra. The team made its Audi R8 LMS ultra debut in Long Beach this weekend with Mike Skeen behind the wheel.

Audi R8 LMS ultra comes with carbon fiber reinforced plastic doors, high-energy absorbing new crash foams, new PS1 safety seat and updated transmission. It delivers up to 570 horsepower (419 kW) and higher torque at lower engine speeds. It also sports larger engine oil cooler and transmission fluid cooler, enlarged air vents and optimized brake cooling at the front wheels.

Source: Audi

April 14, 2014

Audi R8 LMS ultra Gets Ready For Nurburgring

Audi R8 LMS ultra participated in the 42nd running of the Nürburgring 24 Hours. It is the first time, when several teams challenged each other in a qualification race this weekend. All of them: Le Mans winners, GT World Champions, a stratosphere jumper and strong customer teams have relied on the Audi R8 LMS ultra. The 24-hour race has 190 participants from around the world. The so called ‘Green Hell’ of the Nürburgring Nordschleife begins on June 21 and 22.

Just like in 2013, five Audi teams, will be putting a total of eight Audi R8 LMS ultra cars on the grid of the classic ‘marathon’ in the Eifel. The qualification race for the official racing was happening this weekend. The track was long 25.378-kilometres, where the teams did some testing.

They have used this opportunity for testing without the pressure of a championship. As a matter of fact, many of the teams that ware going to be running in the 24-hour race were using this event with its free practice and two qualifying sessions plus the six-hour race to prepare for the main event.

Audi line-up for the 24-hour race consists of high-caliber drivers. To be more precise, in the competition we will see four former Le Mans winners – Frank Biela, Marcel Fässler, Stéphane Ortelli and Marco Werner. They have a total of eleven victories in the classic French ‘marathon’ and are to drive the Audi R8 LMS ultra.

Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock, who are former GT1 World Champions, plus the current FIA GT Champion Laurens Vanthoor and the three-time Porsche Supercup Champion René Rast complete the line-up. At the race we will also see the current Audi DTM driver Nico Müller and the former DTM driver Rahel Frey.

An extreme athlete will be also present – his name is Felix Baumgartner and he is famous for his stratosphere jump. He has found his new challenge, opting for the Audi R8 LMS ultra of the Audi race experience and will be making his debut on the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Source: Audi

April 7, 2014

Audi R8 LMS To Compete At ROLEX 24 At Daytona

At the 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Audi Sport will join forces with Paul Miller Racing. The race team will contest with an Audi R8 LMS. Paul Miller will campaign the 2014 inaugural season in the GTD-Class starting with a test at Sebring on 16th of November.

A driver from the team will be also Bryce Miller, who is Paul Miller’s son and a former GT race winner in both ALMS and GRAND-AM competition. He will partner for the season with another driver which is expected to be named in the near future. An Audi factory driver will attend the first test in Sebring in order to get ready for the season opening ROLEX 24 at Daytona.

More importantly, the vehicle because of which a lot of success is expected is the Audi R8 LMS race car. The model shares more than fifty of its parts with the Audi R8 street car. For example such elements are the naturally aspirated V10 5.2 liter engine and the Audi Space Frame as well as a variety of other components.

As a matter of fact, the R8 has won all of the major 24 hour races around the world, including the 2013 ROLEX 24 at Daytona. This fact proves that the street car can be confident in its race-tested performance and durability. Another great advantage for the race teams is the first service interval at 12,000 miles under race conditions translate into considerably lower operating costs.

Source: Audi

November 14, 2013

Audi R8 LMS ultra to take part in 2012 FIA GT1 World Championship

The new Audi R8 LMS ultra will take part in the 2012 FIA GT1 World Championship. Two vehicles of the popular brand will independently compete in the world’s highest-calibre GT racing series.

Do you still remember that in the 2009 season Audi started its customer sport programme with the R8 LMS for the GT3 class? This class was one of four major GT categories. At the same time now GT3 is not only making its mark nationally but gaining popularity on an international level. Like the FIA European Championship for GT3 models in 2006, there will also be a FIA GT1 World Championship exclusively held for GT3 vehicles in the future. Hence, the Audi R8 LMS ultra will be able to take part in the world’s top racing class for GT vehicles in the 2012 season. Moreover it will have the opportunity to fight for a world champion’s title of its own for the very first time.

Audi R8 LMS ultra to take part in 2012 FIA GT1 World Championship

Since 2010 the team from Flénu, Belgium, has been fielding the Audi R8 LMS in various European championships. And for this short time the team has achieved some remarkable successes this season. To go into details it clinched overall victories at the Spa and the Zolder 24 Hours, and in addition won the Blancpain Endurance Series. The GT1 World Championship will be a good challenge for the team members, which I am sure they are looking forward to.

In the competition each team is going to compete with two cars of a single vehicle model from a single brand. In contrast to the most GT3 racing series where professionals and amateurs share a cockpit, this time only professional racers will be allowed to compete in the GT1 World Championship. The Belgian WRT Team is going to announce the drivers before the end of December this year. The details on the format of the competition will be approved by the FIA and will be available shortly. A provisional race calendar has already been made. And as we see the below featured schedule, we can expect ten worldwide events, each featuring two one-hour races.

Motorsports: 2011 Spa 24 hours, Vincent Vosse, Teamchef Audi Sport Team WRT

2012 FIA GT1 World Championship
Round 1: Apr 08 Nogaro (France)
Round 2: Apr 22 Zolder (Belgium)
Round 3: May 27 Navarra (Spain)
Round 4: Jul 08 Algarve (Portugal)
Round 5: Aug 26 Peking (China)
Round 6: Sep 02 Ordos (China)
Round 7: Sep 16 Moscow (Russia)
Round 8: Oct 07 Zandvoort (Netherlands)
Round 9: Nov 25 San Luis (Argentina)
Round 10: TBA

Source: Audi

December 21, 2011

Audi R8 GRAND-AM

Audi Sport has announced the new R8 GRAND-AM, which is based on R8 LMS that has scored more than 110 victories and 13 titles. Essentially, from the GT3 race car quattro GmbH has developed a vehicle for the Grand Touring class of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series in the USA and subjected it to final testing at Daytona.

There were two test days, when Frank Stippler completed around 1000 km with Audi R8 GRAND-AM. The famous Daytona International Speedway in the U.S. state of Florida with its banked turns served to prepare for the Daytona 24 Hours at which private racing customers will compete with the R8 GRAND AM on January 28^th and 29^th, next year.

Still ,the newly developed car is a lot different than the GT3 model. The downforce is a lot lower due to the GRAND-AM regulations, which prescribe modified body components. For example, the new front splitter may only protrude from the front contours by 38 mm. Besides that, the front underbody must have a flat design and the rear diffusor corresponds to the production car component, while the standardised rear wing is only 152 cm wide and thus 260 mm slimmer than the rear wing of the R8 LMS.

“The lower aerodynamic forces also require modified damper characteristics and softer spring rates,” said Armin Plietsch, Head of Engineering Customer Sport at quattro GmbH.

In addition, the regulations prescribe a ride height of 65 mm – which is about 10 mm more than the minimum in the FIA series.

The tires should be from the series’ exclusive supplier, Continental and the ABS and traction control, which are standard equipment on the Audi R8 LMS, had to be deactivated for the R8 GRAND-AM.

The optimised radiator package that Audi developed for the R8 LMS ultra is also used in the R8 GRAND-AM.

“We successfully tested all the modifications at Daytona,” commented Romolo Liebchen, Head of Customer Sport at quattro GmbH.

“With Frank Stippler we developed a sound and solid set-up for our customers and also gathered valuable findings in the endurance tests. The durability of wearing parts and runs at high outside temperatures meet challenging demands. We can now provide our racing customers with concrete advice and reference values for fielding the car.”, he finished.

Source: Audi

December 12, 2011

Audi R8 LMS at Nurburgring

Audi R8 LMS was tested at the Nurburgring these day by ABT Sportsline and Phoenix Racing, who had a lot of experience over the last two years at the 24-hour race around the race track with the quattro GmbH GT3 sports car.

“The Audi R8 LMS was developed specifically for customer sport,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich.

“With the two factory supported events at the Nürburgring and at Spa-Francorchamps we aim to underline the positive image that the R8 LMS has built up following its first two years of competition. I think we are well positioned for this from the driver and team side.”, he added.

2011 Audi R8 LMS includes a modified engine control for the 5.2 litre V10 power unit, revised suspension and a light-weight motorsport clutch specifically developed for endurance races.

“The 2011 season started perfectly for the Audi R8 LMS with the one-two finish at Bathurst,” comented Werner Frowein, Managing Director of the quattro GmbH.

“We want to continue this. In the shape of Phoenix Racing we send a team to compete that has accompanied the development of the R8 LMS for endurance races since the very beginning and which has gathered the most experience in this area. ABT Sportsline is the perfect choice for the Nürburgring, and WRT for Spa. As far as the drivers are concerned you could hardly wish for better.”, added Mr. Frowein.

ABT Sportsline and Phoenix Racing contest rounds of the VLN endurance championship in preparation for the 24-hour race at the Nurburgring. WRT contests the Blancpain Endurance Series in 2011 which also includes the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps.
Audi R8 LMS

Source: Audi

April 6, 2011

Ultimate endurance test for new Audi R8 LMS

In the course of the further development of the Audi R8 LMS, an ultimate endurance test is on the agenda for the new GT3 sports car of AUDI AG at the end of May: On May 23/24, Teams ABT Sportsline and Phoenix Racing, with “factory” support by Audi, will field a total of four vehicles in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. (more…)

April 21, 2009

Tag: Audi R8 LMS