Audi R8 LMS Cup: the fastest one-make race series in the world

By Botchi Santos August 06,2013

THE ENGINE bay of an Audi R8. PHOTO BY BOTCHI SANTOS

INJE SPEEDIUM, Inje Province, South Korea—With the success of Audi as the premier luxury car manufacturer in China, with  more than 300,000 cars sold in 2011 and 370,000 cars sold in 2012, Audi AG decided to launch their first-ever customer racing series  in the Asian continent.

 

The Audi R8 LMS Cup is a one-make series race car heavily based on the FIA World Endurance Championship GT3-spec R8 Ultra and is geared towards developing amateur racing in Asia, as well as a training pool for future Audi factory race car drivers.

 

The series boasts of an impressive lineup of drivers which include former F1 driver Alex Yoong, former FIA World Touring Car driver Marchy Lee, former British F3 driver Adderly Fong and even the famous Hong Kong celebrity Aaron Kwok, headlining the glamorous series. In addition, a handful of gentleman racers form the amateur half of the grid, an integral part of the Audi R8 LMS Cup.

 

In 2012, the inaugural season, the series only ran  in China, namely the Shanghai International Circuit, the Zhuhai International Circuit and Ordos International Circuit. In 2013, the series spreads its wings to other locations which include the newly finished Inje Speedium Circuit in Inje Province, South Korea, where select journalists from all over Asia including the Philippines were invited; as well as Sepang International Circuit in Sepang Town, Malaysia; and the upcoming Macau Grand Prix in the historic Guia Street Circuit in Macau.

KOREAN driver Ko You. PHOTO BY BOTCHI SANTOS

 

The Audi R8 LMS Cup is part of the many support races of the newly formed Asian Le Mans Series,  under the direction of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, the organizers of the famous French Classic, the Le Mans 24-Hour Endurance Race, one of the triple crowns of motorsports (alongside the Indianapolis 500 and the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix). The Asian Le Mans Series is a feeder series aimed at funneling new teams and talents to the global World Endurance Championships and, ultimately, the Le Mans 24-Hour Race.  Indeed, a handful of racers, such as Audi R8 LMS driver Jeffrey Lee of Taiwan, are also racing in the Asian Le Mans Series.

 

Unique system

 

The Audi R8 LMS Cup Series forms a unique coaching/mentoring system for  professional drivers and amateur gentleman racers as the pros give setup/tuning tips as well as driving instruction to the amateurs to help the latter  improve their race craft. Amateurs also get to view in-car camera and telemetry of the pros and view them side by side with their own cameras to see the finer points of the fastest racing lines, braking points and apex clipping points.

 

LOVELY pit girls add glamor to the race. PHOTO BY BOTCHI SANTOS

The one-make series prides itself in being the fastest one-make series in the world as the R8 LMS Cup cars are slightly detuned versions of the aforementioned GT3-spec race cars. The main difference being the more aggressive aero package of the GT3-spec cars and additional headlights to allow GT3-spec cars to run at night races, changes which can easily be done to a typical R8 LMS car to allow it to race in FIA-sanctioned events. This will be the case during the next round in Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, as Rounds 7 and 8 will be run during the day, prior to the start of the Merdaka Millenium 12-Hour Endurance Race. Three R8 LMS Cup cars will be modified to full GT3 specs to compete in the main endurance event, which will start at 12 midnight.

 

To shed some truth on their claim of being the fastest one-make series, the R8 LMS Cup cars were lapping in the 1-minute-35-second range at race pace at the 3.751-kilometer-long Inje Speedium Circuit, roughly five seconds faster than the other  one-make race series cars from the Ferrari Challenge and Porsche Carrera Cup, present during the same race event.

 

Most reliable, efficient

 

Rene Koneberg, head of customer racing in China, says that the R8 LMS Cup cars are the best, the most reliable and, surprisingly, the most efficient race cars of their kind in the world. Michelin is the exclusive tire sponsor, with the teams only allowed one set of dry slick tires for an entire weekend of racing. Each race consists of 20 laps, with a qualifying round on Saturday morning to determine grid position for the earlier round. The finishing order for the first race determines the grid position for the next  race the following day.

FORMER British F3 driver Adderly Fong. PHOTO BY BOTCHI SANTOS

 

The cars are also impressive. Audi claims that the Audi R8 road car’s aluminum space frame chassis is very safe and rigid, a perfect starting base for a race car. All interior parts are removed, save for the dashboard and door sidings. An FIA-approved 16-point roll-cage is installed in the Audi factory at Neckarsulm, Germany. Dry carbon body panels replace all existing panels and bumpers except for the roof and doors, with Bilstein supplying three-way adjustable racing dampers, Michelin providing the control tires and OZ Racing Italy supplying the 18×11 front and 18×13 rear cast magnesium wheels.

 

More than adequate

 

The Quattro all-wheel drive is removed, as the R8 LMS cars run rear-wheel-drive only, but they retain the single-clutch R-tronic sequential electrohydraulic transmission similar to the street cars. The engine is also unmodified, utilizing the same 5.2-liter displacement, exhaling through dual exhaust pipes with race-spec catalytic converters. Output is a controlled 560 horsepower, with torque at just over 500 Newton-meters. The engines can last a full two seasons of racing, whereas the transmission can last an entire season prior to rebuilds. Audi is proud that their road car technology is more than adequate for professional motorsports.

 

For a tuning enthusiast like myself, a GT Car is perhaps the ultimate iteration of a heavily tuned street car. Seeing all the exotic carbon fiber, titanium, aluminum and magnesium lying around the pit garages  made me weak in the knees, never mind the gorgeous Korean race queens. But to put things in perspective, a basic R8 LMS Cup car costs 348,000 euros, which includes Audi Premium Service for one year/one season of racing, and another 48,000 euros for logistics. To support the 18 Audi R8 LMS Cup cars, Audi AG has a couple of containers full of R8 LMS Cup car parts, worth 2 million euros, that travel with the series wherever it goes. All minor servicing and repairs are handled by Audi AG’s technical partner Absolute Racing, based in the Zhuhai Circuit in China, while major repairs to the ASF Chassis and engines are done solely in Germany.

 

During Round 5 of the Audi R8 LMS Cup qualifying session, 2013 points leader  Yoong suffered a heavy spinout and crash, which damaged his car significantly, preventing him from racing as there wasn’t enough time to repair his car for the race. Earl Bamber, driving the CASTROL EDGE-sponsored R8 captured pole as he had driven and practiced the most prior to the race, eventually taking a pole-to-finish victory in Round 5. For Round 6, Bamber was on pole again and led for the entire race until vehicle failure stopped his chances of a two-peat at Inje Speedium. Yoong fought hard, starting in  17th place and finishing in fifth, climbing his way to seventh place in just two laps. Such are the skills and talents of a former F1 racer. Fong and  Lee, the latter no stranger to Philippine motorsports as he had raced here many times in the past, were fighting hard for second and third place. But when Earl’s car skidded to a halt a few laps from the checkered flag, Lee solidified his lead over Fong for the win, finishing first, with  Fong taking second.

 

Throughout the race, there was a lot of tension as the pros formed the first group and were racing hard throughout the races, side by side, with nose-to-tail lead and victory for Round 6’s  Lee and  Fong. Even the crowd inside the hospitality suite was very tense and excited.

 

During the many press conferences, Koneberg had said that the Audi R8 LMS Cup is looking to expand its wings further. The Philippine media contingent was, in fact, asked how the newly completed Clark International Raceway might fare in hosting a round of the Audi R8 LMS Cup. We all smiled, quite embarrassed, and answered that perhaps Audi might  consider sending over one R8 LMS Cup car to try out the track. Hopefully, we can get behind the wheel of one!

 

We hope that the series grows and, one day, we field our own Philippine team (PGA Cars-Audi, are you listening?!)  or even just a guest drive from one of our many rising stars. Speaking of rising stars and heroes in Philippine motorsports, of the 34 Audi race mechanics present in each and every round of the Audi R8 LMS Cup, 17  are Filipinos. Makes me proud to be one.

 

 

 

 

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