The staged withdrawal of Audi Sport from customer GT racing has been painful to watch. After such a glittering run of success worldwide in every arena since the R8 first debuted as a GT3 car in 2009, saying goodbye to this programme is genuinely tough.
The final customer car was delivered just last month, though with dozens of cars still active, many with top-ranking teams (and with Audi Sport Customer Racing continuing to provide technical support), we expect the R8 LMS GT3 EVO II to continue to score race and class wins for some time yet. Just two weeks ago, for instance, the car won the Gulf 12 Hours with longtime devotee Saintéloc Racing.
However, DSC has chosen to say goodbye in the wake of that final customer delivery and the release of its remaining factory drivers. It reserves the right though, to continue the story this time next year, when it has inevitably, won multiple major endurance races and challenged for significant GT titles, again!
The R8 in GT3 spec has been on long evolutionary journey, through two major iterations of the platform, and was still being produced months after the final road-going model came off the production line.
It has long been praised by customer teams and key pro and am drivers as being extremely drivable, in all conditions, kind on tyres, and with bulletproof reliability.
Audi Sport’s customer service throughout its time working with dozens of customer teams globally has been exemplary too. Under the command of Romolo Liebchen and later Chris Reinke, Audi Sport’s GT3 programme flourished. They will be looked back on as architects of some of the most remarkable achievements in the storied German brand’s history.
The result of Audi’s efforts to develop and support the R8 GT3 platform is a staggering roll of honour across three separate decades of racing, with major race and title wins captured every single season.
The list of key teams and drivers that achieved major results is astonishing too, and has grown right up until the end of the current season. To put it into perspective, even with the customer programme winding down, in 2023 alone the R8 in GT3 form won 111 races worldwide and in 2024 the car won 24 titles worldwide and two 24-hour races at Dubai and the Nürburgring.
And overall, since its debut the R8 in GT3 competition has amassed 125 overall drivers title and 202 teams and class titles. It also won four times at Macau, two times in the Baku World Challenge, three times at the Bathurst 12 Hour and 19 times in 24-hour races (including four at Spa and seven at the Nürburgring).
Audi Sport Customer Racing also passed a significant milestone during 2024, claiming its 500th title. This total also includes those won by the GT4 and GT2-spec R8s, plus the RS3 TCR car.
But all things must come to an end, and for the time being at least, Audi’s era supporting customer racing is over.
Here’s a look back at some of the R8’s highlights, year by year:
2009
FIA GT3 European Championship – Drivers Championship – Audi R8 LMS GT3
2010
ADAC GT Masters Teams Championship – ABT Sportsline
2011
Bathurst 12 Hour – Overall victory – Joest Racing – Audi R8 LMS GT3
Spa 24 Hours – Overall victory – Audi Sport Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS GT3
Blancpain Endurance Series – Championship – Belgian Audi Club – Audi R8 LMS GT3
Macau GT Cup – Overall win – Edoardo Mortara – Audi R8 LMS GT3
2012
Bathurst 12 Hour – Overall victory – Phoenix Racing – Audi R8 LMS GT3
Spa 24 Hours – Overall victory – Audi Sport Performance Team (Phoenix) – Audi R8 LMS Ultra
Nürburgring 24 Hours – Overall victory – Audi Sport (Phoenix) – Audi R8 LMS Ultra
Blancpain Endurance Series – Championship – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS Ultra
Macau GT Cup – Overall win – Edoardo Mortara – Audi R8 LMS GT3
2013
FIA GT Series – Championship – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS Ultra
Macau GT Cup – Overall win – Edoardo Mortara – Audi R8 LMS GT3
Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona – GT class winner – Audi Sport Customer Racing Alex Job Racing – Audi R8 (Grand-Am spec)
Baku World Challenge – Overall victory – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS Ultra
2014
Spa 24 Hours – Overall victory – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS Ultra
Nürburgring 24 Hours – Overall victory – Phoenix Racing – Audi R8 LMS Ultra
IMSA Petit Le Mans – GTD class win – Paul Miller Racing – Audi R8 LMS
GT World Challenge Europe – Overall Championship – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS Ultra
Blancpain Endurance Series – Championship – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS Ultra
Blancpain Sprint Series – Championship – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS Ultra
2015
Nürburgring 24 Hours – Overall victory – Audi Sport Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS
IGTC Sepang 12 Hours – Overall win – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS
GT World Challenge Europe – Overall Championship – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS
Blancpain Endurance Series – Championship – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS
Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup – Championship – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS
2016
Dubai 24 Hours – Overall victory – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS
IMSA Rolex 24 Hours – GTD class victory – Magnus Racing – Audi R8 LMS
IGTC Sepang 12 Hours – Overall win – Audi Sport Team Phoenix – Audi R8 LMS
Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup – Championship – Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS
FIA GT World Cup – Overall win – Laurens Vanthoor – Audi R8 LMS
Intercontinental GT Challenge – Manufacturers’ Championship
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – Manufacturers’ Championship GTD class
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – Manufacturers’ and Teams’ Championship GTD class North American Endurance Cup
2017
Spa 24 Hours – Overall victory – Audi Sport Team Saintéloc – Audi R8 LMS
Nürburgring 24 Hours – Overall victory – Audi Sport Team Land – Audi R8 LMS
IMSA Petit Le Mans – GTD class win – Montaplast by Land Motorsport – Audi R8 LMS
Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup – Championship – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS
IGTC California 8 Hours – Overall victory – Audi Sport Team Magnus – Audi R8 LMS
Intercontinental GT Challenge – Manufacturers’ Championship
2018
Bathurst 12 Hour – Overall victory – Audi Sport Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS GT3
Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup – Championship – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS
IGTC California 8 Hours – Overall victory – Audi Sport Team Land – Audi R8 LMS
Intercontinental GT Challenge – Manufacturers’ Championship
2019
Dubai 24 Hours – Overall victory – Car Collection Motorsport – Audi R8 LMS EVO
Nürburgring 24 Hours – Overall victory – Audi Sport Team Phoenix – Audi R8 LMS EVO
IGTC Suzuka 10 Hours – Overall victory – Audi Sport Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS Evo
Gulf 12 Hours – Overall victory – Attempto Racing – Audi R8 LMS EVO
2020
GT World Challenge Europe – Overall Teams Championship – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS EVO
GT World Challenge Europe – Sprint Cup Championship – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS EVO
2021
IGTC Indianapolis 8 Hour – Overall win – Audi Sport Team Saintéloc – Audi R8 LMS EVO
GT World Challenge Europe – Overall Championship – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS EVO
GT World Challenge Europe – Endurance Cup Championship – Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO
GT World Challenge Europe – Sprint Cup Championship – Team WRT – Audi R8 GT3 EVO
Intercontinental GT Challenge – Manufacturers’ Championship
2022
Dubai 24 Hours – Overall victory – MS7 by WRT – Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO
Nürburgring 24 Hours – Overall victory – Audi Sport Team Phoenix – Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II
GT World Challenge Europe – Sprint Cup Championship – Team WRT – Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II
2023
Sepang 12 Hours – Overall win – Absolute Racing – Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II
GT World Challenge Europe – Sprint Cup Championship – Tresor Attempto Racing – Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II
2024
Dubai 24 Hours – Overall victory – Eastalent Racing Team – Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II
Nürburgring 24 Hours – Overall victory – Scherer Sport PHX – Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II
International GT Open – Drivers’ Championship – Christopher Hasse & Simon Riecher – Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II
Gulf 12 Hours – Overall victory – Saintéloc Racing – Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II
