The Audi R8 was the first in a line of world-beating sports-prototype
cars from the Ingolstadt marque which would dominate Le Mans, and would
see Audi remain at the forefront of international sports-car racing for
over 15 years.
If such an award could go to a machine, Audi 'R8-405' - the car
featuring in this book - was surely the 'Man of the Match' for the 2000
Le Mans 24 Hours. In the end it would finish second, behind one of its
team mates which had a far less-troubled run, but it was not for want of
trying by Allan McNish, his co-drivers Stéphane Ortelli and Laurent
Aïello and their mechanics.
The Audi R8s would go on to dominate endurance racing for a further five
years. The cars had already shown what they were capable of by finishing
first and second on their debut, in the 12 Hours of Sebring in March
2000.
At Le Mans, apart from a brief aberration when a Panoz led under a full
course yellow, 'R8-405' led the race for six hours. Trouble then
intervened, but the car's drivers never gave up, McNish setting fastest
lap of the race in the morning still chasing his team mates Frank Biela,
Tom Kristensen and Emanuele Pirro in the eventual winning sister car.
That car would soon be on its way to Audi's museum, but 'R8-405' would
race on in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), driven later that year by
Biela and Pirro and winning at Texas Motor Speedway and Las Vegas.
By the end of the season, '405' and the other 4-series 2000-season R8s
would be rendered almost obsolete by Audi's introduction of a
direct-injection engine for its new 5-series R8. That did not stop '405'
from competing for a further year in the ALMS, albeit in private -
Champion Racing - hands, with regular drivers including Andy Wallace and
Johnny Herbert. Despite its tender years, it would later go on to
qualify as an historic car, and a host of new opportunities opened up as
it became one of the most raced of all the R8s.
In 2020 the car was acquired by enthusiast Martin Halusa with every
intention of taking it back to Le Mans in the future for the biannual
Classic races.
The enthralling story of 'R8-405' is told in fascinating detail in this
book, supported by a stunning array of photographs showing the car in
action in its two years of 'period' competition, together with a gallery
of fine studio images showing this 'Great Car' as it is today.
