Over the last several decades, Audi Sport has won a lot of races in series such as the DTM and LMP racing at Le Mans and elsewhere, though it’s always played close hold on holding onto its cars. Up until now, it was a rare thing indeed to see those cars on the open collector market. That’s all about to change.
Announced just today, Audi Sport is moving to create a new Audi Sport racing legends project, making its collection of LMP and DTM race cars available to qualified collectors. The move included a program presentation earlier today in Neuberg an der Donau, which will be followed by presentations at international classic car events in Germany France and the UK.
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How We’d Like it To Work
Seems like a solid plan. We all buy R18s. That’s the running response to this. Who wants to pool their money, launch a meme coin in a crypto scheme, or come up with money in a preferably legal fashion whereby an R18 sits in our garage. I see it going down as something like this German market commercial for the RS 6 Audi ran back when these cars were new. Can you see yourself fly fishing with a buddy along a mountain stream, your R18 parked in the background? Imported car tariffs? What imported car tariffs?
How it Actually Works
The idea here is that customers can become owners of these cars from Audi Sport’s most dominating eras by purchasing an original chassis.
“We are rebuilding these chassis together with reconditioned parts from that time into racing cars according to strict standards and with a high level of expertise,” says Rolf Michl, Managing Director of Audi Sport GmbH. “In some cases, even the developers from that era are involved in the current projects. The Audi R18 e-tron quattro and the RS 5 DTM are two of the fastest racing cars we have ever built. Customers can look forward not only to extremely sought-after racing cars, but also to a firework display of driving emotions. Our customers become part of a select circle, benefit from our motorsport expertise and receive comprehensive support.”
Will Audi Sport Sell the Family Jewels?
No, the winning cars from this era will remain in Audi’s own collection. Those cars will be looked after, maintained and used at events by Audi Tradition.
However, the cars that weren’t Le Mans or championship winners are identical mechanically and not doing anyone any good sitting around in warehouses. Moving these cars out to customers is a most interesting development if you can afford it, and that’s particularly interesting for owners of the diesel and hybrid LMPs. Those cars would need Audi Sport technicians in order to turn a wheel under their own power, something that has hampered their presence at events like Monterey Car Week’s Rolex Motorsport Reunion when simpler-to-run Audi R8 LMP1s are fairly regularly seen.
How it Played out at Today’s Event
The event today in Germany invited a pre-selected mix of customers to take a closer look at the first two models to be offered. Chassis 107 of the RS 5 DTM and chassis 207 of the R18 e-tron quattro were presented. This R18 was driven by Romain Dumas, Loïc Duval and Marc Gené to take the first victory for the RP2 generation in the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) at Spa-Francorchamps in 2012. The RS 5 DTM was also a winner in 2015, taking the victory at the DTM finale at Hockenheim driving by Timo Scheider.
The point of the presentation at the brand’s motorsport HQ was also to begin sales for the Audi Sport racing legends program.
What’s Next for Audi Sport racing legends in 2025
The program will next present on May 9-11 at the Jim Clark Revival at Hockenheim (Germany), then July 3-6 at the Le Mans Classic (France) and finally July 10-13 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (UK). These events have been added to other Audi Tradition events plus activities of interest for Audi aficionados in the ooooIYKYK master list of 2025 events HERE.
The first car is due to be sold and delivered to its next owner over the summer. For that owner and the exclusive group to come afterward, the handover will also designate the beginning of comprehensive support by the Audi Sport racing legends team. This will include technical inspections, offers of repairs, spare parts service and advice from a team stacked with former developers of the cars when they raced in period.
This will include event support, meaning Audi Sport present at more and more vintage events. With the sale of these cars from the LMP1 and Class 1 era of DTM, Audi Sport racing legends is making a stronger business case for maintaining a strong Audi presence on and off the track at some of the most iconic events in vintage racing.
Is this a Good Thing?
Most definitely. In the time since the R8 LMP era (or B7 S4 DTM era), Audi Sport has kept most all of their race cars, putting them in warehouses, parking them in museums or in the collections of former drivers like Tom Kristensen, Lucas di Grassi and at Dindo Capello’s Audi Zentrum Alessandria dealership.
Most of them these cars go unused for the most part, with the diesel-powered LMP cars being effective paperweights without the proper team support. By uprighting Audi Sport racing legends, Audi gets those cars out there on the grids as rolling ambassadors for the brand. At the same time, they may an Audi brand presence at key automotive lifestyle events more likely to pencil.
There’s no real downside here as I see it. Everybody wins, from the new owners and operators of these cars to aficionados present at events getting to see these incredible cars running for perhaps the first time in their fandom.
I only have one beef. North America is a key market for the Audi brand. That’s not reflected in the three chosen events for this season. It would be great to see them in the USA, perhaps at an event like Monterey Car Week’s Rolex Motorsport Reunion.