Audi develops R8 GT3 racer...still no news on the R10 replacement though

[EJ25RUN]

\


Credit: Autoblog


The courtship between Audi and GT3-class racing teams has officially begun with the automaker's announcement that it has developed a GT3 version of the R8 sports car dubbed "R16" internally by its project overlords at Audi Sport . The rear-drive racer (GT3 regulations prohibit AWD) features a six-speed sequential gearbox, mostly production-spec suspension components, plus an updated front end and a large rear wing designed to keep it planted to the tarmac. No additional tech specs have been revealed at this time. Factory driver Frank Biela was at the wheel for the prototype's roll-out, and customer deliveries are expected to take place next fall. Look for the car to see wheel-to-wheel action against the likes of the Aston Martin DBRS9 and Jaguar XKR GT3 during the 2009 European racing season. We patiently await its inclusion in a future Gran Turismo update so that we can try it out, too.

[Alan®]

GANGSTER!!!!!

[ATK_Designs]

oh my rod........If I have the R8 and enough money, I'm seriously going to mod mine like that. FREAKING SEXY.

[Elbow]

HOT!

Minus the ricer wing.

[matthewAPM]

the car im getting has that seat...lol @ them having 2 seats in the car...NOT legal.

Cant wait to see it on the track. EJ25RUN, what do you think will come from audi in terms of a LMP car for next year? Do you think they will stay diesel or go with something different E85?? i know with the new "green challenge" or what ever its called, i could see a change coming from them. And closed cockpit??? whats your take

[blacknightteg]

most of the cars in the lmp categories are suggested to start going closed cockpit. the rules for the 2010 year of the ACO state all cars are to be closed cockpit, with a little leway the first year or so. Im assuming audi, since they are comming out with the R15 i believe in 2010 maybe 2009 will be closed cockpit. there were a few concepts of what the R15 might look like, posted on here a while back but most people thougth it wasnt goin to look like that. the R15 will more then likely be closed cockpit when it arrives to the racing world. I know that there is already one manufacture, i believe its lola or maybe mazda that will be bringin their own lmp closed cockpit car to the petit this year. so companies/teams are slowly starting to go towards the closed cockpit ideal. i know companies like honda/acura are waiting for the new set in stone rules from teh ACO to determine wat they will be doing as far as with their lmp programs and whether or not they may infact start an lmp1 program/

[Elbow]

They are going closed cockpit. They will probably stay diesel.

How do you know 2 seats arent legal?

[UpSideDownDesi]

i'll take one without the wing for street use.

[Elbow]

I'd leave the wing on to laugh at the dumb people who would call me a ricer

[UpSideDownDesi]

HOT!

Minus the ricer wing.

I'd leave the wing on to laugh at the dumb people who would call me a ricer

Thimon has gone

[Elbow]

I was kidding lol the wing is fully functional

[matthewAPM]

most of the cars in the lmp categories are suggested to start going closed cockpit. the rules for the 2010 year of the ACO state all cars are to be closed cockpit, with a little leway the first year or so. Im assuming audi, since they are comming out with the R15 i believe in 2010 maybe 2009 will be closed cockpit. there were a few concepts of what the R15 might look like, posted on here a while back but most people thougth it wasnt goin to look like that. the R15 will more then likely be closed cockpit when it arrives to the racing world. I know that there is already one manufacture, i believe its lola or maybe mazda that will be bringin their own lmp closed cockpit car to the petit this year. so companies/teams are slowly starting to go towards the closed cockpit ideal. i know companies like honda/acura are waiting for the new set in stone rules from teh ACO to determine wat they will be doing as far as with their lmp programs and whether or not they may infact start an lmp1 program/

I know about the change to closed cockpit. just wanted to see what everyone had to say. The new car will NOT look like what was posted. The rules are asking for cars to be more like open wheel chassis with fenders. The pictures of the "R15" that were posted are no where close to what will come. You will see a closed cockpit coming from acura next season as well as penske and possibly dyson in the porsche. ALSO, porsche will possibly be moving to P1 so that they can have a fight at Lemans. Look for acura to do the same. Even tho all the acura teams are on the same power plant, Andretti-Green and highcroft use the Courage LC75 chassis, with Fernandez using the Lola B05/40... will they all switch to a set chassis or will they continue the seperation?? Mazda at the time is doing some testing with a body for next season but no confirmations on the design or when it will be ready. Radical might be at petit this year, but they will soon be closed cockpit with the new design, when the car will be out is still in the air. Who will be at petit for the first time this year is Peugeot in the 908. Unlike sebring, BOTH cars will be at Road Atlanta battling with the audi team. Also something to look for is what creation, zytek, and the intersport lola will be doing for 09-10 season. KW motorsports has a new design for Creation with the CA06/H LMP-hybrid...will this be the new car for the small team?? only time will tell.

They are going closed cockpit. They will probably stay diesel.

How do you know 2 seats arent legal?

read FIA GT3 rules please

[Atlblkz06]

I was kidding lol the wing is fully functional

You just redeemed yourself, I was about to say... lol

The wing doesnt work with the rest of the car - in fact I think it destroys the artistic lines of the car, but function>design right?

[EJ25RUN]

the car im getting has that seat...lol @ them having 2 seats in the car...NOT legal.

Cant wait to see it on the track. EJ25RUN, what do you think will come from audi in terms of a LMP car for next year? Do you think they will stay diesel or go with something different E85?? i know with the new "green challenge" or what ever its called, i could see a change coming from them. And closed cockpit??? whats your take

VW main reason to be in motorsport is to advertise TDi. From this they can sell more road cars.

Next year is still up in the air. The 3 years are over.

Audi R8 - 00-02
Audi R10 - 06-08

Seat Leon TDI in WTCC

This is why no Formula 1 or open wheel racing plans have happened.

[Elbow]

Radical will NOT be at Petit, he talked to me the other day, they are doing Silverstone instead.

[matthewAPM]

all that typing and no one says anything...shame

[Elbow]

Yes people let us talk about real racing.

[Sport1.3]

I just had multiple orgasms

[matthewAPM]

lmao

[EJ25RUN]

most of the cars in the lmp categories are suggested to start going closed cockpit. the rules for the 2010 year of the ACO state all cars are to be closed cockpit, with a little leway the first year or so. I know that there is already one manufacture, i believe its lola or maybe mazda that will be bringin their own lmp closed cockpit car to the petit this year. so companies/teams are slowly starting to go towards the closed cockpit ideal. i know companies like honda/acura are waiting for the new set in stone rules from teh ACO to determine wat they will be doing as far as with their lmp programs and whether or not they may infact start an lmp1 program/

We don't know if there will be an R15. I read plenty of racing publications and all have said that Audi and their diesel project are still in debate.

Here's one really big thing to know.

"AUDI DOES NOT WANT TO MAKE A CLOSED COCKPIT CAR."

why, how did they win Le Mans? Pit stops.
Pit stops that allowed for the next driver to jump into the car onto of the other guy and get him out, then get himself in as the exiting guy straps him into the car.

The Peugeot boys had to crawl through a 2x2 foot hole and some mechanic had to be stretched over the body work to do the same job. This losses a lot of time in the pits.

2nd reason. In the rain, the closed cockpit cars will steam up and limit vision. They don't do that if there is no window.

But we will see what happens.

[EJ25RUN]

I know about the change to closed cockpit. just wanted to see what everyone had to say. The new car will NOT look like what was posted. The rules are asking for cars to be more like open wheel chassis with fenders. .

The main reason they look like closed wheeled indy cars is cause of the Downforce restictions. Group C cars used to make downforce 3-4x times the weight of the car. Now it is less than half of that. That doesn't stop them working on ways to use the aero how they want to reach that max amount.

[alpine_aw11]

must....not.....fap........ OH MY JEEBUS FAP ATTACK

[Ronsam2006]

This car is too sexy!

[DieselNuts]

OMG! Those brakes give me a hard on!

[Elbow]

And lets not forget Peugeot, who will also be at Petit.

[EJ25RUN]

And lets not forget Peugeot, who will also be at Petit.

I know i'll be there for that. Last years finish was to epic for me to miss this years race.

[matthewAPM]

And lets not forget Peugeot, who will also be at Petit.

which i already stated

[blacknightteg]

I know i'll be there for that. Last years finish was to epic for me to miss this years race.

ah i c. i tell you thought, if audi were to leave the alms for those reason, there wouldnt any competition except between porsche and acura. not that i would be complaining. but it seems like since the days of porsche lmp1's bmw lmp1's panoz lmp1's etc. there has been a steady decline in competition except for the lmp2 cars. i would hope that audi stays, more cars step up into the lmp1 category.

i believe we should set up a meet for the petit. when is it by the way, like the 9-10 of october?

[matthewAPM]

ah i c. i tell you thought, if audi were to leave the alms for those reason, there wouldnt any competition except between porsche and acura. not that i would be complaining. but it seems like since the days of porsche lmp1's bmw lmp1's panoz lmp1's etc. there has been a steady decline in competition except for the lmp2 cars. i would hope that audi stays, more cars step up into the lmp1 category.

i believe we should set up a meet for the petit. when is it by the way, like the 9-10 of october?

Well ill be there from tuesday until monday....yes ALL week.

A meet would be cool. I'll have a hard card again this year . So im good to go already.

[blacknightteg]

lol well arent you mister special lol

[1SICKLEX]

BADASS!!!!!!!!

[matthewAPM]

lol well arent you mister special lol

I <3 SCCA

[EJ25RUN]

ah i c. i tell you thought, if audi were to leave the alms for those reason, there wouldnt any competition except between porsche and acura. not that i would be complaining. but it seems like since the days of porsche lmp1's bmw lmp1's panoz lmp1's etc. there has been a steady decline in competition except for the lmp2 cars. i would hope that audi stays, more cars step up into the lmp1 category.

i believe we should set up a meet for the petit. when is it by the way, like the 9-10 of october?

Porsche never made an LMP1. The started but the only thing that came from it was the Carrera GT road car got the V10 powerplant.

The other problem is that no one wants to face Audi. My reasoning for the Peugeot return is my hypotheses on all French prototypes.

The French want to see a French car win Le Mans. In the past, the ACO/FIA was accused of changing regulations so that a French car had the highest possibility to win the event.

Look.....

Ban the GT40 for 1970
Ban engines over 3.0 Liters (Porsche 917) and Matra's MS9 v12 won 3 in a row.
Create Group 6 - Renault Alpine victory, (even though the Porsche 936 rubbed in their face first)
1992 - Regulate the Mercedes, Porsche, Jaguar, and basically made it where a car without an F1 sourced 3.5L v10 would loss. So Peugeot 905 wins twice.

Now, it is time for that again with the new Peugeot 908. That is one reason i believe they want the move to closed prototypes. Audi has stated they don't want this. It all looked like the French built the best car but just like Jacky Ickx was bullet proof in 1976, the Audi was so in 2008.

What needs to happen is an overhaul in the regulations which would allow every manufacture to start over so to speak and have to have a clean sheet of paper. That way, it would take away a little bit of the Audi 10 year experience sheet.

+ There needs to be a way to make the championship as exciting as it was in the late 80's when Group C and F1 competed for fans. That is no longer the case. A push from many many manufactures world over would help this greatly.

And am i the only one that doesn't understand why there is no World Sports Car Championship? I mean f1, World Touring car, World Rally Championship, Motogp, WSBK all this and that and nothing for Sports cars?......ACO/FIA..WTF?

[Elbow]

Well ill be there from tuesday until monday....yes ALL week.

A meet would be cool. I'll have a hard card again this year . So im good to go already.

Well i'll be there from the SATURDAY before the race till then

[matthewAPM]

well it seems like everything i said is right....for those of you who watched the race yesterday

[trc_gsr]

And am i the only one that doesn't understand why there is no World Sports Car Championship? I mean f1, World Touring car, World Rally Championship, Motogp, WSBK all this and that and nothing for Sports cars?......ACO/FIA..WTF?

i know what you mean, why haven't they done this yet, def a great idea, they should get rid of world touring car and have sports cars instead, but that wont happen cause sports cars dont sell as well as touring cars do

[EJ25RUN]

i know what you mean, why haven't they done this yet, def a great idea, they should get rid of world touring car and have sports cars instead, but that wont happen cause sports cars dont sell as well as touring cars do

Well there used to be one. From 1953 to 1992. But after the demise of group C and Bernie Ecclestone, it was just flat out canceled for 1993. The only place to see great prototypes in the mid 90's was the American IMSA series. Later in the 90's over in Europe, a new production based formula was started called the BPR championship. The concept was to allow highly evolved machines called GT1 cars. This was very popular and by 1997 the FIA had come over the championship. During this time, the FIA created the FIA sportscar championship for prototypes. This was an international championship. In 2004, with ALMS doing so well, and the European Le Mans series started in Europe, The FIA Sports car championship was dropped as manufacturers kept leaving. It has remained that way since.

It really is not all bad though. The cost of running an international championship are astronomical and the fact the the ALMS focuses on U.S.A. race tracks means we can attend more events without flying out the country.

The only championship that needs work is the Grand Am series. I have said from day 1 that the Daytona prototypes are boring and you cant get interested in them. I would rather see Grand Am create a new class for production based sports cars like trans Am used to be. With the modern Camaro, Challenger, and Mustang, there is no reason it wont work.

On the side of prototypes or top level, create a class where FIA GT1 cars would be eligible. That way Aston, Vette, Maserati, Saleen, Viper, and others could fight it out again instead of this ALMS Vette 3 vs Vette 4.

[blacknightteg]

amen man amen.

[matthewAPM]

On the side of prototypes or top level, create a class where FIA GT1 cars would be eligible. That way Aston, Vette, Maserati, Saleen, Viper, and others could fight it out again instead of this ALMS Vette 3 vs Vette 4.

well starting with petit, there will be another ferrari, another porsche from farnbacher, and possible another panoz. In GT1 there will be another aston, and MAYBE another vette (not from corvette racing).

Next season you will see the GT2 vette all season (the car from miller), as well as 2 mustangs from mike and brandon davis. (they will be running at laguna seca).

As of right now, 35 cars are registered for the petit event with 16 other possible cars. One of the cars to watch is the corsa zytek hybrid....pretty cool car.

[EJ25RUN]

well starting with petit, there will be another ferrari, another porsche from farnbacher, and possible another panoz. In GT1 there will be another aston, and MAYBE another vette (not from corvette racing).

Next season you will see the GT2 vette all season (the car from miller), as well as 2 mustangs from mike and brandon davis. (they will be running at laguna seca).

As of right now, 35 cars are registered for the petit event with 16 other possible cars. One of the cars to watch is the corsa zytek hybrid....pretty cool car.

GT2 is set, no issues there at all. Aston has been like "yeah we might come back" but that is not enough. It needs to be an effort like the one they run at Le Mans.

Last, i was stating what would help Grand Am get better. I think that if it wern't for the Daytona 24 and Watkins Glen 6 hour and drivers like Scott Pruett, i wouln't watch the Grand AM championship. + What is the deal with those Pontiac GXP things? I know they are built by P&M but, they should know unlike Nascar fans, we have some damn sense and can see that thing has nothing to do with the production car. I think Pontiac is pouring so much money into Grand AM that the rules were bent to let it in.