Audi Ready for the Bathurst Race

It took German manufacturer Audi more than a decade to decide to send two of its finest vehicles to one of Australia's most famous races, the 12-hour race at Bathurst. Having skipped the event ever since 2000, the car maker now plans to take the crown.

Two Audi R8 LMS will get on the starting grid on February 6, fielded by the same team which raced Audis at the last Bathurst presence, Team Joest. The race will be the first since Audi passed the operations of the customer sport program to quattro GmbH.

As is the case with pretty much all the endeavors Audi gets involved in, the goal for this year's Bathurst appearance is to win. Win the race, of course, but also some new customers with it, for one amazing car.

The R8 LMS has all the chances to win the 12-hour run, and it also has the numbers to back such an eventuality. In two years since its presentation, the model was present in 197 races, of which it had 64 wins. The car also finished in the top three in 163 races and clinched seven championship titles.

The presence of the model in Australia also marks the start of a broader presence of Audi on the international racing scene. Whereas up until now the R8 LMS was mostly a European racer, 2011 will bring with it more continents to race on, with the target set next on Asia.

“The race track at Bathurst is a real classic,” said Romolo Liebchen, head of Customer Sport of quattro GmbH. “For our restructured customer sport program Bathurst is certainly a perfect way to start the season.”