Audi R8C

Audi R8C

Audi R8C at Le Mans Classic 2010
Category	LMGTP
Constructor	Audi
Designer(s)	Peter Elleray
Technical specifications
Engine	Audi 4.0 litre 90-degree V8 twin-turbo,
Competition history
Notable entrants	Audi

The Audi R8C is a Le Mans Prototype racecar that was built by Audi and designed by Peter Elleray to compete in the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans under the LMGTP category. It was developed alongside the open Audi R8R LMP category spyder, prior to being replaced by the all-new Audi R8 in 2000.

In 1998, when Audi announced its intention to enter the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, the plan was to enter only an open-cockpit prototype, known as the Audi R8R. However, following the dominant performance of GT1-class cars in the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans, the race organizers, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), had faced a problem. The GT1 cars had transformed over the past few years from race versions of supercars, as the rules intended, into purpose-built closed cockpit prototypes where one car was modified to be a street legal "production" showcar as almost an after thought. Though these cars were within the GT1 rules, they were not at all what the ACO had intended for the category.

Consequently, the ACO modified classification rules for 1999. In GT ranks, the GT1 category was replaced with the GTS category. The GTS class was far more restrictive on modifications, appearance and meeting a set number of production cars than GT1, but still allowed manufacturers to race sportscars that may otherwise be uncompetitive without major modification. Additionally, in order to address advances and popularity of old GT1 class cars, the ACO created the LMGTP category. The LMGTP category would be for closed cockpit prototypes, which gave a place for the previous GT1 cars, but, under prototype rules now, also freed from certain "production car" restrictions that they had been under in the GT1 category. Under these new rules, LMGTP closed-cockpit cars, with better aerodynamics than open LMP cars, and freed of the GT1 restrictions, had the very real potential of dominating the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Toyota and Mercedes both committed to either modifying existing cars or building brand new cars to take advantage of the new rules. With these developments in mind, Audi decided that it should invest in this new LMGTP class along with the R8R LMP program, hence the appearance of the R8C project.