Audi R8 goes out with a win
The final page of the Audi R8's chapter in motorsports history was written yesterday as an R8 driven by Dindo Capello and Allan McNish took the checkered flag at Lime Rock Park for the last time. The race was not a lock for the Audi LMP1 team, as a pair of persistent Porsche LMP2 cars traded the lead with Capello and McNish multiple times. The R8 lost the lead with an hour to go when it was stopped entering pit lane by officials and forced to go another lap before refueling. McNish regained the lead, however, with 30 minutes to go and never looked back until it crossed the finish line 11.812 seconds ahead of the second place Porsche.
The win gave the R8 its 63rd win in 80 races, including five victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The winning R8 car at Lime Rock was sporting a sticker that read "My other car is a diesel," referring to the pair of R10 TDI prototypes that will replace it in the American Le Mans Series beginning with the next race in Salt Lake City on July 15th.
[Source: Audi]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Keith 8:36AM (7/02/2006)
If it works so well, why are they replacing it?
Don't get me wrong, the R10 is a awesome car, but why are they killing the R8?
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Byrav K. 9:51AM (7/02/2006)
to prove a point. they can go to a completly different fuel type and still come victorious.
btw...
LONG LIVE AUDI...
(I drive a B5 A4 1.8T Quattro, so much love from here)
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JayP 11:10AM (7/02/2006)
How about a spoiler warning... CBS has the race on tape delay.
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Autonews 12:33PM (7/02/2006)
As any other company Audi need to replace a good car with a new one to make progress. Only in this way the technology will advance.
New R10 : http://www.auto-power-girl.com/specifications/audi/audi_r10_le_mans_race_car-540
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Audi R8 5:12PM (7/02/2006)
Well, the Audi R8 race vehicle may be going out, but the R8 street car is just coming around :)
http://www.r8audi.com
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Joe 7:05PM (7/02/2006)
They're replacing for the fact of how this race went... and LMP2 team gave it a run, time to replace...
-Joe
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MrSweetNLow 8:13PM (7/02/2006)
Considering the car started with 650HP+ when the car first came out... then was taxed because it kept beating everyone... a change had to come. In the end, the R8 barely had 520HP. Viva La Audi!
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Hugh 8:28PM (7/02/2006)
I was at the race. The Audi looked like it could drop the Porsche's whenever it felt like it (as it should being LMP1). The R8 passed the Porsche's twice, and then built up about 18 second leads each time.
However, I'm not sure if folks are aware of this, but at the ALMS races, they have open paddock and an open starting grid (!!!!!!!). I can not tell you how cool it is to be able to walk around the grid with all the cars/drivers/teams just before the race. I was in car guy heaven.
Cheers,
hughdogg
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