When Audi Ruined Le Mans 

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I swear the R8 LMP winning 5 Le Mans in 6 years really gets forgotten when discussing the greatest cars in motorsport history

Kristensen winning with the R8 on all 5 attempts AND winning with the Bentley the one time that the R8 was defeated - such a power move honestly

Back in 1997 after I’d bought an Audi A4, I was asked to participate in a market research panel. We talked about advertising, etc. I mentioned to the group that if Audi wants to get the attention of the performance market… race some cars. I specifically said IMSA and LeMans😂 So yes, I take credit!😂😂

I work with someone who helped design the R8C at RTN. Audi came to them because they thought, wrongly, that the rules allowed them to use the R8R chassis fitted with a roof in the GTP class, and needed RTN to design a car from the ground up for them. They went from a blank canvas to racing in well under a year and had a fraction of the budget of the Joest car. The R8R was always going to be the chosen direction...

the R-10 is a mind blowing piece of kit.

this was THE face of endurance racing when i was a kid, and then the diesel battle that came after was part of legend too. endurance racing is exceptionnal

11:26 That was the verbal equivalent of a flashbang, good God that caught me offguard

I have had the absolute honour of getting to work for Brad Kettler, one of Audi's former engineers and pretty much the only guy keeping these cars running, and have been fortunate enough to get to rebuild a few transmissions and really get to know these cars from a technical standpoint. Absolutely incredible machines, I'll never forget the first time I got to see one started up in the shop, that sound gave me goosebumps

That R8C is a thing of beauty!

The Speed Channel was a glorious channel here in the States. Pity it was replaced. I remember watching the R8 in the ALMS when they showed races including the telecast of the 24hrs of Le Mans. SurfShark Plug: "Stop missing out on the content you like...mine."

Great video... Unless I missed it... You forgot to mention ex F1 Driver Michele Alboreto - died testing these in 2001. 😢

I got to meet Dr. Ullrich the last time Audi ran WEC at COTA, years back. You'd never know the guy was an engineering and racing genius, how nice and polite he was, shaking hands and taking pictures with everyone who recognized him, which were more than a few. Was a pretty awesome 5-7 seconds I'll never forget especially seeing these old Audi LM racing videos!

*Its 2008 again* Youre playing Race Driver Grid on Xbox360 Youre in battle with R18s and other Prototypes with 2 min left in a 24 min race The 24hr of LeMans theme from that game is playing as the darkness fades as you just start to see the sun coming up Anxiety intensifies as you see those headlights in the darkness get closer to you ... *Game On*

You can hear the sheer passion put into these videos. Can't wait for another!

The R8 LMP is still my fave LMP ever. It just looks fast. Even stood still.

Funny how the first prototype of the Audi R8 LMP car’s headlights almost look like the ones that the Audi TT (at the time) has! Other than that it’s nice to hear about the backstory of this fine race car. 👍

I remember going to Mosport in 07 or 08, saw the R10 in person, such a surreal car, standing at turn 8 other cars would scream by, then the R10 would come by and you could hear the air flowing over the car, the suspension move and the transmission howl but no exhaust note, was surreal

My dad worked on that car, many many years ago. So i have a really special connection with it. The R8 was s really really amazing car.

Interesting and well put together episode as all ways. There are a lot of abbreviations and different groups in racing, could be a good episode to explain all these, group a,b,c etc... Thanks for the vids dude 🤘

The R8C is underratedly good looking, the R8R ain't too bad either

I do think the 2000 and 2003 Le Mans part should have talked about the 4 and 5 minute rear end and gearbox changes that took place and in 2004 a new rule was made that the gearbox couldn't be replaced during the race.

Love these videos, just makes me wanna get out the ps2 and play some GT4

I saw the R8 LMP racing in a privateer race at COTA back in November it was awesome to see.

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Thank you for this video. I love the R8 and hope there are more videos about Audis LMP1s to come😄

The Porsche LMP2000 got literally cancelled by executive order of Ferdinand Piëch who was CEO of the Volkswagen Group at the time and in his earlier career he was at Porsche and contributed the 917 and later came to Audi and paved their way to make them a premium brand especially with technical innovations the famous "Vorsprung durch Technik" (which came from the NSU Ro 80 with Wankel engine). And of course he still had familiar connections (and was also a large shareholder) to Porsche, so he could avoid that competition at least until 2014 (or 2005/2006 but the RS Spyder was LMP2 and mostly in ALMS/ELMS). It seems the open LMPs were prefered by the rules in the 2000s so Audi continued the R8R line, they then returned to a coupé with the R18 in 2011 (mostly they could change drivers faster without a roof but the pit stops got a minimum time so it wasn't a disadvantage for a coupé anymore).

Finally you review Audi R8 lmp, thanks bro

I saw these car race in period at Road America, they were so quiet and fast, the Mugen Panoz LMP was ear splitting and the Audi was a whisper

1:09 unfortunately Michele Alboreto lost his life in 2001 at the wheel of an Audi R8 he was testing

Criminally underexposed channel. Don’t ever stop making these videos, they are fantastic. The hard work is appreciated 👍

11:24 There's deadpan and then there's *DEADpan* - I nearly spiled my quinoa and duck's liver timbale!

I remember watching videos from 2000 and the R8 looked like a spaceship in relation to the cars at the time. Even the BMW V12 LMR that had won LM24 just the year before looked old hat next the Audi.

The most nuts thing about this car was the 5 minute gearbox/rear end change they did to both cars in 2000. Seriously, it’s fucking genius… so genius the ACO banned it straight afterwards.

The R8 even raced in 2006 in the ALMS until Lime Rock in July before it finally got replaced by the R10. Managed to win its final race with all 23 racetracks written on it where it scored victories.

Always get's my thumbs up this channel, another great show thanks to our master automobolistic ;)

One of the most beautiful cars ever made. Hero car through and through, absolute jaw dropper when it debuted in Gran Turismo 4, while it was still securing wins during development!

favourite youtuber made a video about my favourite car really appreciate it

While the R10 made its debut in March 2006 at Sebring (which it won), it was still in the development process for the first half of the year. For the second, third & fourth rounds of American Le Mans, a single R8 LMP was run by Allan McNish & Dindo Capello. It won overall in Houston, but only managed the LMP1 win at Mid-Ohio, with Porsche's RS Spyder of LMP2 taking overall. But in the R8's final start at Lime Rock Park, McNish & Capello edged out Porsche for the overall win. Being my home track, I was there that day, absolutely magic! (That race also had Aston Martin beat Corvette in a photo finish for GT1)

To add, I believe there is one last race in 2006 with the R8. if I remember correctly, they raced it one last time at Lime Rock where it unsurprisingly won again! The most dominant chassis in sports car racing!

Seeing your face in relation to your voice always psyches me out, but you 110% need to be doing historic documentary commentary, my good man.

Love these R8s.

Thank you for this video. Wonderful footage! 🙂

Never knew about the R8C so definitely learnt something new

I remember when I was a kid , I had total calendar, and this car was in there I was staring at it for hours if not days admiring it

Impressive, very nice Let’s see what “competition” audi had to face and how slow their opponents were compared to them

YESSSS I LOVE THIS CAR !!!!!! we need more open top lmp video 🙂

Automobilistic nails it again! Love it!

i love your videos!!!! where did you get those posters?

Congratulations on the cool channel. I'd love to see something on the Ford Escort Cosworth and on the Lancia Delta Integrale

All I can say is Gran Turismo 5. Been playing this game for a while now and and on the used cars lists, this popped up for 4.1 million. Luckily I have enough to buy it and rebuild it and all I can say is well worth it.

Whenever the R8 comes up as a video topic I will always stop to watch. That car is so special to me as a kid who grew up around the R8's dominant period, especially because I had a grandstand seat for the Race of a Thousand Years in Adelaide, which Audi's famous crocodile-liveried car won by an unfathomable margin in a race shortened due to time constraints.

I’d argue the greatest is the 956/962, those were unstoppable machines and you can’t forget the famous “Nobody’s Perfect” poster. 9 out of the top 10 finishers in 1983 were all driving the Porsche. Followed by 8 out of the top 10 in ‘84 and ‘85, and 7 of the top 10 in ‘86.

The R15 is my favourite of the Audi LMP cars, but I've always loved all of the cars that Audi made for Le Mans, so this was an exciting watch for me lol. ^-^

Every time i see that car, i see Alboreto's death...

Sure wish they'd race in WEC now. That Bentley is a beautiful car!

What caste a pall was the tragic loss of Michele Alboreto .

Didn't Michele Alboreto die testing one of these? Or was the R10? I remember reading a feature in an F1 mag when I was little but I had no idea about endurance racing or Michele. Must have been around 2001

Hey auto just a throught but could you do a video on the ferrari 288 gto evoluzione i think it would be quite an interesting groub b era story

7:39 can we talk about the picture of Jackie Stewart in an unknown Porsche prototype?

I was lucky enough to see them twice at the Petit LeMan in '01 and' 02. They were on rails. And so very reliable. German engineering excellence. But the real crowd favorites were the home team Panoz. Man you could feel your fillings coming loose when those LMP Roadsters thundered by with their Nascar powerplants.. Great video. Thanks so much sharing!

Seeing that thumbnail reminded me of gran turismo 4, and how the ai somehow lost in that car to my toyota 7

What is the channel to watch WEC in Austria?

Made it in the first 20 minutes of this being posted 💪

the only car that can compete with the 956/962 for success in le mans

Oh, what a story.

I mean look I've only ever driven it in Project Cars 2, but like yeah. It's just the business. 😁

Audi didn’t have the R8 in the second round they used the Audi R8R instead.

this thing destroyed me in older gran turismo games lol

Le Mans disesls next video please

Wait a second, is that a GT One model from tamiya ?

0:40 that’s a McLaren

I miss all the GT music.

I know people rag on toyota le mans wins. Audi had no competition for a good chunk of their race wins though until Peugeot came along? It’s was Audi vs Audi…Panoz & Co never truly got to their levels.

It's Kristensen not Christiansen

give diesel deets

yay

Why so much regulation

Audi Dominant the races fare and squad is all on top of all issues and rivils wasn't dominant because there behined audi planning.

Groundwork for diesel dominance

Audi r8 Le mans prototype 1

12:55 - Bently British?

One correction, it's Champion racing, or ADT Champion racing, not ADT Champion-ship racing. Great video otherwise!

They defo ruined Le Mans for me, being a Panoz fan....

Meh, Porsche 917 was way more dominant In fact, it was such stupidly fast, it haven't been gapped for another 2 decades Well, than there was the 956/962 hitting the scene, and that is considered the most successful racecar of all times

I’ve liked the video I’ll watch it later on my big tv

Diesel audi please

0:40 it's a Mclaren, not a BMW, yes, its 'Powered by BMW' but it's NOT a BMW

Audi never ruin Le Mans, they made Le Mans better!!

is anybody else hyped for Audi joining F1?

Paying to watch WEC is why nobody watches WEC.... Be more like F1.. without all the red flags...

@3:58 Nice shoehorning of a sponsor there.... WOULDN'T'VE BEEEN EASIER TO JUST SAY WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK!? OR SOMETHING TO THE LIKE?!?!!?!?

You said scrapped many times in this video. That is not the correct word. VW diesels are and were scrapped. Are you proposing that these engines were turned into beer cans? I'm sure they(if still running) were put into something. And dude you stole my 1991 hs graduation haircut!!! Lol

I would subscribe if you had less FaceTime.

No. They won by default just turning up with three factory cars. What great competition did it beat? What serious factory backed rivals? Who was there to push Audi? They took their millions of dollars, built a car from scratch and inevitably beat up a bunch of privateers usually buying in their engines, chassis and parts. The moment Audi got a serious rival in 2007 from Peugeot it looked slower. The 908 was the quicker car right off the bat and stayed that way for years throughout the endurance series it raced in, forcing Audi to iterate several times to catch up. The best Le Mans cars were the ones that took on serious rivals and created legendary memorable races. Ford v Ferrari is a movie for a reason, rather than Audi versus Zytek and Dome....

Hopefully they enter f1 and immediately dominate

It was boring and had little real competition.

Yep, 1/1! impressive

This time between 2000 and 2020 Were the most boring decades of LeMans Because there was NO competition. Audi won left, Bentley came won and left, Audi came back won and left, Porsche came won and left for Toyota… And now we have competition, more then 1 manufacturer who is racing just against themselves.