What's the news?
Audi Sport's Customer Racing division has revealed its fourth new model in just four years, with the Paris Motor Show unveiling of the R8 LMS GT3.
The new beast follows on from the Audi R8 LMS (2015), the RS 3 LMS TCR touring car (2016) and the R8 LMS GT4 (2017).
The Audi R8 LMS has been highly successful on track since its launch three years ago, winning endurance races at legendary venues like Bathurst, Daytona, Laguna Seca, the Nürburgring, Sepang and Spa Francorchamps. It has also picked up various world championship titles, plus international success in the FIA GT World Cup and the Intercontinental GT Challenge. But, as with any winning team, Audi Sport felt there was room for improvement with the LMS, regardless.
Chris Reinke, head of Audi Sport Customer Racing, revealed the GT3 in Paris alongside Michael-Julius Renz, managing director of Audi Sport GmbH, and Reinke said the new model was tailored closely to the customer requirements regarding technology and operating costs, adding: "In developing the evolution of the car, we've put even greater focus on our customers and their needs. The pre-design stage for the second evolution of our current model generation centred on many discussions with our teams."
The R8 LMS has already found favour not just with professional racers, but also amateur drivers, who have clinched class victories or overall titles in America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Europe with the Audi. So all customers should like the new GT3 - it has optimised aerodynamics and better cooling, to give the car greater consistency under various dynamic driving conditions. The reliability of the drivetrain has also been looked at, to ensure the R8 LMS GT3 has the durability to succeed at endurance racing. The chief work here has been to bring in longer service intervals for the clutch and transmission, helping the pockets of teams on a tighter competition budget.
Anything else?
Good news if you're a customer who already has an R8 LMS - the evolution kit to GT3 specification is available for retrofitting to older models, at a cost of €28,000 (plus VAT). Other than that, a brand-new R8 LMS GT3 will set you back €398,000 from Audi Sport Customer Racing. The first examples should be delivered in November, whereupon they'll be going into competition at the start of 2019.