By Johan Laubscher
Audi fans are all very excited to see the launch of the latest GT3 specification race car from the four rings. The original Audi GT3 spec car was the Audi R8 LMS which was shown to the public in late 2008 with much anticipation for the car’s debut. The cars debuted in 2009 and did not disappoint by immediately taking race wins and various titles. Since its introduction the R8 LMS has quickly become one of the most successful GT3 cars, if not the most successful.
For 2012 Audi has introduced the Audi R8 LMS ultra. The latest version of the R8 race car model range which is internally known by the “R16” project code. The car is an evolution of the R8 LMS with many new features such as the improved aerodynamics, more carbon parts and a new cooling system layout. Some of the new designs on the car did not make it past the homologation process such as the new rear diffuser and the DTM styled vents on the front bonnet, but these aside the car is fast.
These cars are sold to private customer teams and hence they are available to buy to anyone/team who want to purchase the car. The ultra is even listed on Audi’s German website (www.audi.de) amongst the other available road going R8 models. The car will set you back a cool 392.581 Euros… That is a lot of money but then again it is a lot of car, an exceptional car.
Deliveries of the new R8 LMS ultra car have started with the teams needing the cars first due to season commitments receiving their cars first. As a fan following the development of the project it almost seems like new ultras are appearing all over the world all the time. It is said that Audi Sport Customer Racing will deliver over 20 of these new cars during the start of this year to customer teams all over the world. The first two cars were delivered to two German teams: Mamerow Racing and Prosperia UHC Speed. UHC has since received its second R8 LMS ultra. Two Japanese teams have also acquired R8 LMS ultras in the form of the GAINER and äpr racing (not the same as APR Motorsport in North America).
Other ultras have also been seen testing in both the Blancpain Endurance Series and German VLN Endurance series test days this past week, both times the cars were in a silver livery with quattro GmbH logos. The Belgium W Racing Team have recently launched their 2012 program and tested their two brand new ultra cars at Zolder. See news abut the WRT tests at Zolder here: WRT testing at Zolder
Yet another ultra appeared this weekend in Malaysia, run by Team Hong Kong Racing (Absolute Racing) in the MSS support races for the Malaysian Grand Prix. These are all the ultras that have been seen to date but more will be seen very soon. It is almost like a wait and see game for Audi fans anxiously waiting to see the next ultra appear.
