Audi R8R

The Audi R8R was a Le Mans Prototype built by Audi for the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, and a predecessor to the dominant Audi R8 which debuted in 2000. It was raced alongside the British built closed-cockpit Audi R8C.

Development

The R8R project began in 1997, when Audi began research into entering the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The first prototype was displayed in 1998, showing an open cockpit car which featured many Audi styling cues, yet lacked some of the practical necessities for sports car racing. The car, designed by Michael Pfadenhauer and Wolfgang Appel and built by Dallara, featured an Audi 3.6 litre twin-turbo V8 engine. Styling features included a large group of aerodynamic vents in the nose, as well as high sidepods which featured NACA ducts on their tops to feed the turbochargers. A large vent on the side also allowed air out from the front wheel well.

By the car's debut at the 1999 12 Hours of Sebring, the aerodynamics were evolved. A longer tail was prominent, with the wheel arches more subtly curved into the side pods, instead of an abrupt hard-edge design. The front end was also lower, and featured more aerodynamic styling over the original stylized prototype.