All images: © Porter Press International
If there is one manufacturer that has dominated the endurance racing landscape over the first two decades of the 21st Century, then it is certainly Audi. The German automaker burst onto the endurance racing scene in 1999 with its R8R, in open Spyder format, and the R8C, a Coupé. The pair of R8Rs claimed third and fourth places in their debut race, while the two R8Cs posted DNFs in the same race.
It is not just in the Le Mans 24 Hours that Audi excelled, it was also the name to beat in the World Endurance Championships (WEC), American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and the European Le Mans Series (ELMS). Between 1999 and 2016, when Audi officially withdrew from the WEC at the end of that season, each new iteration of the Audi endurance racer was dominant, and it all began with the R8, seventeen years earlier.
As author Ian Wagstaff put it, Audi went from being a beginner to favourites in just one year. This was, coincidently, at the start of the new Millennium, and so Audi rose to prominence when the attention of so many motorsport enthusiasts were looking for some new blood in the sport, and it was the Audi R8 that obliged in the most unforgettable way possible.
While the Audi ‘R8-405’, the subject of this book, cannot claim the highest number of victories, it was nevertheless a multiple race winner and had perhaps the longest active life in the R8 family. R8-405 entered the heady world of endurance racing at the 2000 Le Mans 24 Hours, leading the race for six hours in the hands of Laurent Aïello, Allan McNish and Stéphane Ortelli. Thanks to the tenacity of these three drivers, they brought R8-405 home in second place, one lap behind the winning sister car and two laps ahead of the similar third-placed sister car, providing a memorable 1-2-3 for Audi.
While R8-405 first ran at Le Mans as a works car, it was entered by Joest Racing at Le Mans in subsequent years and also by them in the ALMS. Even when a race car performs outstandingly in its debut season, by the end of the season it is often considered obsolete by the factory, and for R8-405 this was no exception. The R8 had provided and exceptionally good platform on which to build the next and successive evolutions of the racer.
The 2001 season saw chassis R8-405 being allocated to the American privateer team of Champion Racing (driven mostly by Johnny Herbert and Andy Wallace), the new series Audi racer being taken by the works team. Ironically, in a corporate twist where the factory called the shots, Champion’s R8-405 was ‘recalled’ for factory duty in 2002 to race against the privateer team!
The list of Audi works drivers who spent time behind the wheel of R8-405 reads like a who-is-who of the world’s best endurance racers, and a profile and a detailed list of achievements by each driver is provided in the text. These names include the likes of Allan McNish, Stéphane Ortelli, Laurent Aïello, Emanuele Pirro, Frank Biela, Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo Capello, Andy Wallace, Johnny Herbert, Ralf Kelleners, Dorsey Schroeder and Jamie Davies.
Of interest to enthusiasts in this form of racing, the author has provided official period Le Mans intermediate and final classification time sheets, and other assorted, similar official documents. Not only are these interesting and provide a supporting role to the text, but they are also a source of accurate information to the enthusiast.
The author has gone to great lengths, right from the beginning of the book, to paint an accurate picture of the arena in which the R8s competed, interviewing drivers, team and personnel connected with the squad. The book then includes a section devoted to the successors to the R8s. As is now the norm, the world of historic racing has taken off as one of the fastest growing categories in the world of racing today. After R8-405’s in period racing life was over, it was acquired by an enthusiast who is himself a keen racer, and the car continues to entertain the crowds wherever it is seen.
Mention must be made of the truly excellent photography throughout the book, the author using many of his own images taken during his travels to these races around the world. Additional imagery has been sourced from regular professional photographers and photo libraries, enhancing the visual experience. The final section of the book comprises a studio photo study of R8-405, showing the car liveried in both its 2000 Le Mans 24 Hours colours and that of Champion Racing.
The author has done an exceptional job of recalling the life and times of R8-405, and the final presentation is a well-crafted balance of words and images. This book is the 15th in the ‘Great Cars’ series by Porter Press, and comes highly recommended to racing enthusiasts who enjoyed seeing these cars racing. Whether collecting the whole ‘Great Cars’ series or just wanting to add a quality title to your motorsport library, this is well worth your attention.
Book information
- Title: Audi R8 – The Autobiography of R8-405
- Author: Ian Wagstaff
- Publisher: Porter Press International
- Published: 5 December 2022
- ISBN: 978-1-913089-61-0
- Page count: 320 pages
- Image count: More than 350 images
- Format: 285 x 235 mm portrait, hardback with dust jacket
- Language: English
- Price: £69.00 GBP
- Available: www.porterpress.co.uk
