Audi are celebrating a successful season for their Audi R8 LMS after clinching 23 victories and three champions titles with it’s customer GT3 sports car.
“Actually, 2009 was planned to be a year of learning for the Audi R8 LMS but our expectations were surpassed by far,” said Executive Board Member Michael Dick “After only one year, the R8 is already a GT3 car to be beaten.”
Running in a total of 76 races across Europe the 525-hp Audi blitzed it’s opposition in various series including the FIA GT3 European Championship with Team Phoenix Racing, Christian Abt in the ADAC-GT Masters in Germany and class victories at the two 24-hour races on the Nürburgring and at Spa-Francorchamps.
“The Audi R8 LMS won three of the most important GT3 racing series right away and also proved its endurance capability on the Nürburgring and at Spa,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “The decision to place the R8 LMS in its first season into the hands of teams with which Audi Sport has been working together for a long time was absolutely right. They have a major part in the success of the Audi R8 LMS.”
“The interest by customers all over the world is huge,” says Oliver Straube, who is responsible for marketing the Audi R8 LMS at Audi Sport. “We could clearly sell more cars in 2010 than we originally planned but we will limit ourselves to a maximum of 15 vehicles in order to be able to offer our customers the type of service they can expect Audi Sport to deliver.”