Deliveries of the new Audi R8 LMS ultra begin

New Audi R8 LMS

The first four examples of the new customer sport race car, the Audi R8 LMS ultra, have been delivered ready for the 2012 season. The teams Mamerow and Prosperia uhc speed collected the first two 420 kW (570 hp) GT3 sports cars in Neckarsulm on Friday. Two other vehicles were shipped to Japan at the same time.

This marks the start of part two of a success story: Since 2009, Audi has produced more than forty examples of the first generation of the R8 LMS and has achieved 119 international victories with the vehicle. And now its successor is ready to go. Two race customers collected the first examples of the new Audi R8 LMS ultra at the Audi plant in Neckarsulm. Mamerow Racing based in Castrop-Rauxel and Prosperia uhc speed of Roth were the proud recipients of this evolution of the GT3 sports car. Peter Mamerow and his team and Udo Zink, Managing Director of Prosperia uhc speed, both accepted their vehicles in person at the Audi Forum in Neckarsulm.

"We are delighted that our sports car is enjoying such a great reception in the GT3 scene, which is becoming increasingly important internationally," emphasized Romolo Liebchen, Head of Audi Sport customer racing at quattro GmbH, which develops, produces, and markets the Audi R8 LMS ultra. "Apart from our sales figures, we also take our conquest rate as a gauge of our success. We are delighted to welcome Mamerow Racing into the fold as a new member of the Audi customer sport community. The team has been a key player on the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring for years and has now decided to opt for our product. We are also just as delighted that Prosperia uhc speed has chosen to stay with us and we will be providing the team with their second R8 LMS ultra very soon. Other customer teams, some of which were with other brands until now, will follow in the next few weeks."

Two other R8 LMS ultra vehicles are now heading overseas. They will be collected in Japan by Nova Engineering, one of quattro GmbH’s four international service partners, and will then be presented to local customers there. Audi Sport customer racing will have delivered 20 examples of the new model by the end of April.

The new Audi R8 LMS ultra boasts numerous technical modifications in comparison to its predecessor. The new GT3 sports car is state of the art in everything from its passive safety to much improved aerodynamics, a more efficient cooling system, and modifications to its chassis. At a purchase price of 329,900 euros (plus VAT), Audi’s newest customer sport race car is an attractive offer. This GT3 race car bearing the four rings also boasts very long intervals between overhauls. For example, the powerful V10 engine, which is based on a mass-produced engine, regularly clocks up 20,000 kilometers or more of racing before needing its first overhaul.