Audi R8C

About this model

Despite Audi’s success in rallying, GT and touring car racing, they were unproven in the field of endurance racing. In 1999, this changed, with the debut of two different prototypes, a seemingly-unlimited budget and one objective in mind - to win at Le Mans.

Since the rules allowed for ‘GT-like’ prototypes to compete against LMPs for top-class honours, Audi built a model for each class, assessing which would be best. The R8C (C for Closed) was built by Racing Technologies Norfolk (RTN), owned by the Volkswagen Group, fighting in the LMGTP class using a bespoke 3.6-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine.

Tony Southgate was hired as a design consultant for the project, working on both the R8C and its open-top stablemate. In his own words, Southgate recalled how Dallara first approached him to test the water on working for Audi: They had built a prototype which was not very good and they needed some help. [...] It looked a bit like an Audi TT convertible with wings. It did not work, so it was an easy car to improve on. Audi should have started again but, if I had suggested that, I would have been out of a job.

Southgate suggested to shelf the coupé and explained how the regulations favoured LMPs: 'I thought the regulations favoured this. You could run two-inch wider tyres at the rear and that's a huge chunk of rubber , he stated.

By the time of Le Mans, although the R8R had plenty of testing and competition mileage under its belt, the R8C had only tested at Snetterton, where it was shown to be unstable under braking. The R8C was entered by UK-based Richard Lloyd Racing, racing under the Audi Sport UK moniker, who had previous endurance experience with bespoke Porsche 962s.

Sadly, Le Mans was a failure, with both chassis failing to finish with transmission issues. Besides this, other issues were evident: worse acceleration out of corners; added weight from the roof; no power steering; less downforce; narrower tyres; and other victims of rushed development.

Subsequently, Audi decided on the open prototype for the 2000 season. The following Audi R8 would implement some aspects learnt from the R8C and R8R, like the quick-change rear-end section and the Megaline-developed automatic gearshift system that proved more reliable. Besides this, it was back to the drawing board for the R8’s design.

Despite the bad performance of the R8C, RTN’s Chief Designer Peter Elleray was commissioned to build a closed-top Bentley LMGTP to mark the brand’s return to motorsport in 2001. Only the engine was retained from the R8C, however.

(In collaboration with @carhistorian)