Audi R8C

The Audi R8C is a closed cockpit Le Mans Prototype that Audi built to compete in the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMGTP category. Peter Elleray designed it at Racing Technology Norfolk, with Tony Southgate consulting, and it was developed alongside the open cockpit Audi R8R. Both cars used a twin turbocharged 3.6 litre V8 rated at about 600 hp (450 kW), but their aerodynamics differed, with the R8C taking most of its air through the sides, thinner wheel arches and a long sloping cockpit with raised humps above the driver. Little testing time left the cars unstable at speed, and at Le Mans one retired after 55 laps and the other after 198, both with gearbox failures. Only two were built, and Audi dropped the project to concentrate on the R8R, which led to the Audi R8.