2009 Audi R8 LMS news, pictures, and information

Audi Motorsport based on three pillars in the future

Audi competes in the DTM as defending champions wîth a development of the 2008 championship winning car and wîth an ambitious target: Audi aims to be the first automobile manufacturer in the history of the 'new' DTM to win the title three times in succession.

The DTM version of the new A4, which set the standards during the 2008 season wîth eight pole positions and six victories, is optimised in every area and carries the project name 'R14 plus' internally.

Four new A4 cars and up to five 2008 cars will be fielded by the proven teams Abt Sportsline, Phoenix and Rosberg. Audi also relies on known quantities for its driver squad: Every driver will be recruited from the driver line-up seen in action during the 2008 season in the DTM and R10 TDI.

GT3 race version of the Audi R8

With the GT3 race version of the R8, Audi has specifically developed a racing sports car for customer use for the first time. The Audi R8 LMS is powered by a 500 hp plus V10 engine and is available from autumn 2009 for a proposed price of 262,000 Euro plus VAT.

The new Audi R8 LMS will be seen in action on the race track during the 2009 season: Úp to eight customer cars will compete in different European race series and in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, for which Audi Sport develops an endurance version of the R8 LMS. The factory itself does not plan to enter any races wîth the new GT3 car.

The experienced drivers Christian Abt, Frank Biela and Frank Stippler are involved in the Audi R8 LMS development.

Audi adds another pillar to its existing motorsport programme wîth the customer programme, which should be self-financing in the medium term. The new customer sport centre in Ingolstadt is conceived as a profit centre.

Motorsport represents huge value for Audi

'2008 was the largest and most successful motorsport programme in AÚDI AG history,' explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Úllrich. 'We want to continue this in 2009. In view of the international economic and financial crisis, it is clear that motorsport must also make a contribution to reduce costs further. It is all the more pleasing that we have found a way to continue our two large projects, the new Le Mans sports car and the DTM, and added another string to our bow wîth the GT3 customer sport programme. This demonstrates just how valuable motorsport is for Audi.'