Audi R8 LMS
In early May, the Audi R8 LMS made its competition debut in the French FFSA Super Series meeting at Dijon and scored a podium finish in the hands of drivers Franck Biela and Yvan Lebon in its maiden appearance.
This latest generation GT3 machine turned more than a few heads and gave the racing community an idea of Audi Sport’s future intentions of developing a competition customer service after conquering the rally, touring car and most recently endurance categories. While Audi builds the R8 LMS, the car is then entrusted to teams competing in the various championships across Europe. In France, the experienced Oreca outfit has been given this responsibility thanks to its long and close ties with the German carmaker and of course savoir faire in car development.
The LMS is a racing version of the street going R8 V10, which is an excellent starting point. Many elements of the road car were taken from competition, including the aluminium chassis, ceramic brakes and engine. The main changes concern the drive train, the LMS is rear wheel drive to conform to sporting regulations.
At first glance the interior is surprisingly comfortable for a proper race car, including electric windows. Audi took so much weight out of the R8 LMS it could afford to keep the electric windows to meet the minimum weight of 1250kgs.
The engine is the same 5.2 litre V10 found in Audi’s S6 &S8 models; the Audi Sport department is a bit coy but says that the performance level is more than 500 brake horsepower and more than 500 Newton metres of torque.
To road test such a car during the middle of the racing season is a rare privilege. But before getting behind the wheel of the LMS and heading out on to the circuit it is first highly suggested to first get behind the already impressive street version. Two three lap stints isn’t very much too find ones bearings but there were some highly skilled Audi personnel on hand, including an instructor from the Audi Driving Experience school, Michel Raffaeli, who is also team manager for the R8 LMS entry in the French GT championship. This is one situation where the first impression is extremely important.
First impression, even the road version of the V10 generates incredible power despite the semi-automatic gearbox being rather brutal in sport mode. That is pretty much all that we can say about the car because our priority was staying focused on the racing line. Finding the proper line through the Signes sweeper, to know where to place the car on a wide track surface for the double right hand Beausset corner that leads to the Bendor corner is a tall order…it is quite a lot to ask from a mere journalist with such little seat time on the Paul Ricard circuit.
Meanwhile, there’s a lot going on in the LMS pit box, everything is ready, and all it needs is a fill up of petrol before the big moment.
Oreca invited veteran endurance ace Stephane Ortelli to be on hand. His prior Le Mans Series commitments meant he couldn’t be part of the inaugural run at Dijon but he was part of the programme from the Magny-Cours round, replacing Franck Biela to join his gentleman driver team mate Yvan Lebon.
Stephane is still in the learning phase with the car but it will take just a bit more to impress this former winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans amongst many other motor racing successes. Just a few corners are all that are needed to bring the tyres up to temperature.
Our test driver Vincent anxiously waits on the pit wall for Stephane to return to offer his first impressions.
ITW : Stéphane ORTELLI
"It has an enormous potential thanks to the positioning of the engine and the torque of the V10 allows for impressive gear shifts in the medium speed corners. It has a very good grip and we all saw how well the traction control works. I wanted to see the car’s potential and I was equally surprised by the brakes with an ABS that helps more than it hinders. For a first run it is fantastic."
Our afternoon ride with Stephane Oretelli demonstrated yet again that being a professional race car driver demands real know how. Now, we have to explain how the car works because there are light years of difference between a proper race car and a road car.
In the LMS, gear shifts are made with wheel paddles with the clutch peddle only used for starting, which is so smooth it is nearly impossible to stall the motor. It is the same story for the brake peddle with its very short travel and the ABS, which we never had a need to engage. Contrary to what one may believe, the car is extremely easy to control. The pin point accuracy is in a word, incredible. The kilograms that have been shed and the stiffened chassis make the R8 LMS incisive on corner entry. It all feels very natural behind the wheel; you just have to remain focused to avoid any unnecessary movements. You’ll reach you own limits far earlier than those of the car.
An exhilarating time disappointingly not long enough. These onboard images of A lap around the 3.8km Paul Ricard circuit remind us that some life experiences are just too short.
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