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quattro GmbH factory that produces the R8 LMS race car (and also the R8 road car) in Neckarsulm, Germany.
Before Lowndes and Luff do battle on the famous circuit against a field of more than 200 cars on Sunday, they took time to get acquainted with the world-class facilities and cutting-edge technology that goes into producing the race car they drove to a historic second place at the Bathurst 12 Hour in February this year. The very same race car they will be pushing to the limit this Sunday at the Nürburgring.
“It’s such an amazing facility, and seeing the passion, precision and technology that is poured into the race cars is just awesome,” said Luff.
And as with every Audi race driver who visits the factory, Lowndes and Luff were also invited to sign their name on the aluminium bonnet of an RS6 – alongside legendary Audi drivers such as Tom Kristensen.
More than 200 cars will start this Saturday to compete on the legendary Nordschleife racetrack in the west of Germany, which is an unforgiving 24.369 km combination of F1 racetrack and the Nordschleife circuit.
The two stars from the Australian V8 Supercar series have already celebrated a spectacular second place in the Audi R8 LMS of the Audi race experience Team at the Bathurst 12 Hour race in February, but their experience of Nurburgring is very limited, with Luff having driven it once previously and Lowndes having never driven it at all!
But before the qualifying session on Saturday, both Australians will spend time on the track under the expert tutelage of Le Mans winner, Marco Werner.
“The R8 LMS is probably the best race car I have ever driven.” said Luff. “Audi has a really good endurance race record. Learning the track is very difficult, but with Marco Werner’s guidance we are making headway. The car and the team are so good that hopefully I can become part of Audi’s endurance racing legacy.”
“I have had a great couple of days with Audi, touring the factory and looking through the museum. The company has a fantastic history and they are very proud of their motor sport heritage. I hope I can add another worthwhile chapter to that at the Nurburgring this weekend,” added Craig Lowndes.
The pair will have only a two hour familiarisation session in the R8 LMS race car before the Saturday morning qualifier and noon start on Sunday for the four hour race, but are confident of a strong showing.
The well drilled Audi race experience team of 15 will be supporting the Aussie duo, with the traditional Audi factory team standard of detail and focus, as they battle with up to 40 cars in their class for ultimate honours.
