Audi Sport Le Mans Dynasty

  • Thread starter Motominded
  • 50 comments
  • 8,883 views
M

Motominded

793
Audi Sport Le Mans 24 Hour Program 1998-2012

1998 Audi R8R Prototype - Designers Luc Donckerwolke and Roland Heiler
audi_r8r_lmp_design_study_001.jpg


1999 R8R Test Car
AudiSCC001-2.jpg


1999 R8R Sebring Spec - Aerodynamics and Chassis by Michael Pfadenhauer and Wolfgang Appel respectively
1999_12_hours_of_sebring_alms_audi_r8r_r8_003.jpg


1999 R8R development - Le Mans Pre Qualifying
Audi-R8R_1999_1024x768_wallpaper_01-1.jpg


1999 R8R - Dallara - Le Mans 24 3rd Place Overall.
1999_24_hours_of_le_mans_audi_r8_007.jpg


1999 R8C - RTN - Le Mans 24
1999_24_hours_of_le_mans_audi_r8_009.jpg


2000 R8 - Dallara - Le Mans 24 Champion
Audi20R820LMP20Team20Joest202000.jpg


2001 R8 - Dallara - Le Mans 24 Champion
Audi_R8_LMP.jpg


2001 Bentley EXP Speed 8 - RTN (Based on Audi R8C) - 3rd Place Overall
Bentley-EXP_Speed_8_2001_1024x768_wallpaper_01.jpg


2002 R8 - Dallara - Le Mans 24 Champion
Audi-R8_23.jpg


2003 R8 - Dallara - 3rd Place Overall
s1_1.jpg


2003 Bentley Speed 8 - RTN (Based on Audi R8C) - Le Mans 24 Champion
bentley03.jpg


2004 R8 - Dallara - Le Mans 24 Champion
Audi20R820LMP20Team20Goh202004.jpg


2005 R8 - Dallara - Le Mans 24 Champion
2005_24_hours_of_le_mans_qualifying_011.jpg


2006 R10 - Dallara - Le Mans 24 Champion
CRW_11612.jpg


2007 R10 - Dallara - Le Mans 24 Champion
2007_audi_r10_tdi_le_mans_winner_6.jpg


2008 R10 - Dallara - Le Mans 24 Champion
2008_le_mans_sun6108_261w_m.jpg


2009 R15 - Dallara - 3rd Place Overall
2009_3_Essais.jpg


2010 R15+ - Dallara - Le Mans 24 Champion
rome102016269.jpg


2011 R18 - Dallara - Le Mans 24 Champion
LM24-Audi-wins-01.jpg


2012 R18 Hybrid - Dallara - Debut 2012 Sebring 12 Hour
Audi-1.jpg
 
The R8C was better looking than the R8R. But the R8 itself was a beaut.

Hate the R15/R15+ & R18. Vile creatures.
 
"Le Mans 24 Champion"? Some of these cars were not champion of anything, the R18 has yet to win any championship. They are "Le Mans 24 Winners". Yeah picky I know, but come on, lets not change the definition of "champion" when we have the perfectly good word "winner".
 
Ardius
"Le Mans 24 Champion"? Some of these cars were not champion of anything, the R18 has yet to win any championship. They are "Le Mans 24 Winners". Yeah picky I know, but come on, lets not change the definition of "champion" when we have the perfectly good word "winner".
Click to expand...

True. Didn't notice that; it's confusing the Le Mans Series with the 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
 
I think the 1999 R8R looked the best, I have a model of it and I think it still looks badass.
 
There's something about the R8R I just don't like.

I prefer the R8C, which is amazing, because I hate the looks of the Audi TT, a car it bears some passing similarities to.
 
Ardius
"Le Mans 24 Champion"? Some of these cars were not champion of anything, the R18 has yet to win any championship. They are "Le Mans 24 Winners". Yeah picky I know, but come on, lets not change the definition of "champion" when we have the perfectly good word "winner".
Click to expand...

It's a north American thing. In TSN's advertising for the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix, they called Lewis Hamilton "defending champion". :ill:

I actually sent them an email about it.
 
sumbrownkid
Well, literally speaking, champion is just another word for winner. So ads can get away with abusing the word.
Click to expand...

It's a bit too far though. A champion wins the championship. A winner wins the race. It's the same in all sport.
 
Le mans is a special case though. Even if it has a dedicated championship surrounding it, it still is regarded as its own thing.
 
sumbrownkid
Le mans is a special case though. Even if it has a dedicated championship surrounding it, it still is regarded as its own thing.
Click to expand...

But you would simply explicitly state that driver X is the winner of the Le Mans 24hrs for whatever year.

Champion of the series is a different term altogether, with a different meaning.

I'd say you could possibly describe someone Jacky Ickx as 'champion' of Le Mans because he won the race six times. But a more accurate and correct term would be most successful driver, second most successful driver and so on.
 
May as well put the R18 down as the 2012 Le Mans winner. It's good they have the resource and passion to enter four cars but it's probably going to make a boring race unless Toyota are on the pace straight away.
 
Stavelot
R18 really is a Dallara chassis? Not sure about that....
Click to expand...

Dallara has been responsible for all Audi LMP Chassis' since 1999.

http://www.racecar-engineering.com/cars/audi-r18-tdi/

Ardius
"Le Mans 24 Champion"? Some of these cars were not champion of anything, the R18 has yet to win any championship. They are "Le Mans 24 Winners". Yeah picky I know, but come on, lets not change the definition of "champion" when we have the perfectly good word "winner".
Click to expand...

The title for the 24 Hours of Le Mans is the Grand Prix d'Endurance and in the same matter the Indy 500 takes precedence over the IRL championship, Le Mans in itself is the great trophy of sports car racing.

People will always remember who won Le Mans. In my eyes the LMS exists solely to award the victor a Le Mans invitation.
 
Motominded
The title for the 24 Hours of Le Mans is the Grand Prix d'Endurance and in the same matter the Indy 500 takes precedence over the IRL championship, Le Mans in itself is the great trophy of sports car racing.

People will always remember who won Le Mans. In my eyes the LMS exists solely to award the victor a Le Mans invitation.
Click to expand...

Perhaps, but what we were saying is that 'champion' of a race is misleading in comparison to 'winner' of a race.

Jean Alesi was a champion once. He was champion of the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix. Gerhard Berger is a ten time champion in F1.

Not quite right, is it?
 
MazdaPrice
Perhaps, but what we were saying is that 'champion' of a race is misleading in comparison to 'winner' of a race.

Jean Alesi was a champion once. He was champion of the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix. Gerhard Berger is a ten time champion in F1.

Not quite right, is it?
Click to expand...

Le Mans is not an F1 race so not the same comparison.

This is similar to saying Mini is the 2012 Dakar Champion.
 
Okay, a better F1/non-Le Mans example would be the Monaco GP.

Of which Jarno Trulli was a one time champion. He wasn't. He was a one time winner.

Can you at least see the point I'm making? Or trying to?

---

Way off topic. Back to the Audis. Superb picture. I loved the little touch between the red and yellow trim. So simple, but so effective to me.

audi-r8-06.jpg
 
If he had said "Le Mans Champion" I can understand that there would be some confusion as there is a Le Mans series championship.

However, races like Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500 are races that I think are among the few that could easily title the race winner "Champion". Sure it's strong, but those races are legendary and the competition is at it's finest. Winning either of those events is a task unlike many others. Consider, too, that many drivers can have a very accomplished season just by winning either of them. I hate to bring it up, but Dan Wheldon is a perfect example of this.

Le Mans is unique, too, in that it's not just one race for one series to participate in. Le Mans is a huge invitational event that draws cars from Asia, Europe and America (as well as others). It's the closest thing we have to a grand international show-down race. Think about all the cars that are etched into history from simply winning there. Would the GT40 be as remarkable a car had it not won at Le Mans, yet won everywhere else? Can anyone tell me (off the top of your head, Google and Wiki doesn't count) what racing series the GT40 won? Can anyone tell me what series the Mazda 787B won? What about the Jaguar XJR-9?

If you win Le Mans, in my mind, you deserve to be labeled champion. Your machine too, since it just spent 24 hours going over 200mph and back hundreds of times.
 
Snaeper
Can anyone tell me (off the top of your head, Google and Wiki doesn't count) what racing series the GT40 won? Can anyone tell me what series the Mazda 787B won? What about the Jaguar XJR-9?
Click to expand...

Off the top of my head, they were champions of diddly squat, except the XJR-9, which was the championship winning WSCP car of 1988.

The others were winners of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
 
MazdaPrice
Can you at least see the point I'm making? Or trying to?
Click to expand...

Your point is valid. But unfortunately, modern day F1 has turned Monaco in to just another event. Not one that deserves special attention. I feel the reason for this is because as special as Monaco is, Spa, Monza, Silverstone, and Suzuka are just as grand. The 1984 era Nurburgring no longer counts and Hockenheim was ruined a decade ago.

Snaeper
If he had said "Le Mans Champion" I can understand that there would be some confusion as there is a Le Mans series championship.

However, races like Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500 are races that I think are among the few that could easily title the race winner "Champion". Sure it's strong, but those races are legendary and the competition is at it's finest. Winning either of those events is a task unlike many others. Consider, too, that many drivers can have a very accomplished season just by winning either of them. I hate to bring it up, but Dan Wheldon is a perfect example of this.

Le Mans is unique, too, in that it's not just one race for one series to participate in. Le Mans is a huge invitational event that draws cars from Asia, Europe and America (as well as others). It's the closest thing we have to a grand international show-down race. Think about all the cars that are etched into history from simply winning there. Would the GT40 be as remarkable a car had it not won at Le Mans, yet won everywhere else? Can anyone tell me (off the top of your head, Google and Wiki doesn't count) what racing series the GT40 won? Can anyone tell me what series the Mazda 787B won? What about the Jaguar XJR-9?
Click to expand...

Nail on the head with this one.
 
Snaeper
Would the GT40 be as remarkable a car had it not won at Le Mans, yet won everywhere else? Can anyone tell me (off the top of your head, Google and Wiki doesn't count) what racing series the GT40 won? Can anyone tell me what series the Mazda 787B won? What about the Jaguar XJR-9?
Click to expand...
For sure Le Mans has always been the biggest race, but one thing is that because the original* World Sportscar Championship died 20 years ago, much of the historical continuation was cut off. All series after that have had no official connection to it, so it is hard to hear about the past winners or even of the existence of the championship without going to Wikipedia. Btw, 787B is a bad example because it really never won anything else.

* Original, since it has now reincarnated...
 
Last edited:
We can go over this all night, but the hard truth is that winning any race does not make you a champion.

The individuals in charge of IRL can deem that the winner of any given race in the IRL becomes champion if they want, but the idea of a grand prix winner being "champion" is a distinctly North American idea. Given the fact that Grand Prix racing originated in France and is governed by an organization based in France, then they have the final say in the matter. They do not label a race winner as a champion. So their word is final in this matter.
 
Let's not forget that Audi were in fact LMES champions in 2004 and 2008.

Pescarolo won it twice too, but that Le Mans win eludes them. So they were Le Mans Series champions, but not Le Mans champions...
 
F1 fan
We can go over this all night, but the hard truth is that winning any race does not make you a champion.

The individuals in charge of IRL can deem that the winner of any given race in the IRL becomes champion if they want, but the idea of a grand prix winner being "champion" is a distinctly North American idea. Given the fact that Grand Prix racing originated in France and is governed by an organization based in France, then they have the final say in the matter. They do not label a race winner as a champion. So their word is final in this matter.
Click to expand...

In all seriousness, im not gonna argue on the use of a term.
 

Latest Posts

Back