What: 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed
Event: Goodwood Festival of Speed
Year: 2019
Dates: July 4–7, 2019
Location: Goodwood House, West Sussex, England
Venue: Goodwood
RELATED
Debut Cars: R8 LMS GT2
Race Cars: R8 LMS GT2, R8 LMS GT3, RS 5 DTM, quattro A2 Rally, 200 quattro Trans-Am, 90 quattro IMSA GTO
Motorcycles: DKW UL 500
People: Tom Kristensen, Stig Blomqvist, Frank Biela, Benoît Tréluyer, Chris Reinke
Participation by: Audi Tradition, Audi Sport customer racing, Audi UK
Related Events: Goodwood Revival, Goodwood Members’ Meeting
OVERVIEW
The 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed was particularly significant for Audi as the setting for the public debut of the Audi R8 LMS GT2, the fourth model in the Audi Sport customer racing portfolio and the most powerful R8 LMS produced to that point.
Audi chose the Festival of Speed to introduce the new GT2 racer, with nine-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen on hand for its unveiling. The R8 LMS GT2 was more than a static debut, with Kristensen also demonstrating the new car on the Goodwood Hillclimb.
Alongside the new R8, Audi Tradition brought three significant competition cars representing the quattro era in rallying and Audi’s subsequent move into North American circuit racing: the Audi Rallye quattro A2, Audi 200 quattro TransAm and Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO.
AUDI R8 LMS GT2 WORLD PREMIERE
The major Audi debut at Goodwood was the Audi R8 LMS GT2, a new customer racing model developed for the emerging SRO GT2 category.
The car expanded Audi Sport customer racing’s range beyond its existing R8 LMS GT3, R8 LMS GT4 and RS 3 LMS programs. Audi positioned GT2 between GT3 and GT4, but with a different emphasis. Rather than maximizing aerodynamic performance and cornering speeds, the category prioritized power, acceleration and top speed while remaining accessible to gentleman drivers.
The R8 LMS GT2 used a production-derived 5.2-liter naturally aspirated V10 producing 470 kW (640 hp), making it the most powerful model in Audi Sport customer racing’s range. Audi’s contemporary technical documentation describes the car as producing 640 hp at 8,000 rpm and more than 550 Nm of torque at 6,250 rpm.
Its construction combined elements of the production R8 Spyder and Coupé. The Audi Space Frame used an aluminum and CFRP structure supplemented by a steel roll cage, while the distinctive narrow hardtop and much of the exterior bodywork were constructed from CFRP.
Visually, the GT2 was immediately identifiable by its large roof-mounted air intake, pronounced sideblades, flared bodywork and competition aerodynamics. Audi Sport developed the roof intake to create a ram-air effect for the unrestricted V10, contributing to its 640-hp output.
Tom Kristensen joined Audi for the car’s Goodwood debut and drove the R8 LMS GT2 on the famous hill, giving the new customer racer a dynamic premiere in front of the Festival of Speed crowd.
Production of the first customer R8 LMS GT2 race cars began later in 2019 ahead of the category’s first full season in 2020. Audi initially priced the car at €338,000 plus VAT.
AUDI TRADITION AT GOODWOOD
Audi’s newest customer race car was accompanied by machinery representing some of the most important periods in the company’s competition history.
Audi Tradition brought three quattro competition cars to Goodwood: the Audi Rallye quattro A2 from the 1984 World Rally Championship, the Audi 200 quattro Trans-Am from 1988 and Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO from 1989.
Rather than limiting the historic cars to static display, Audi paired them with drivers closely associated with its motorsport history.
AUDI QUATTRO RALLY A2
Stig Blomqvist returned to the Audi Rallye quattro A2, representing the season in which the Swedish driver and Audi claimed the 1984 World Rally Championship titles.
The A2 was an evolution of the long-wheelbase quattro rally car used by Audi during Hannu Mikkola’s 1983 championship season. Audi began 1984 with a dominant performance at the Monte Carlo Rally, where new signing Walter Röhrl won ahead of Blomqvist in second and Hannu Mikkola in third.
Blomqvist then won his home Rally Sweden and went on to become the dominant Audi driver of the season, ultimately securing the drivers’ championship while Audi won the manufacturers’ title.
For Goodwood, Audi Tradition reunited Blomqvist with the same Rallye quattro A2 he had driven to second place at Monte Carlo in 1984.
AUDI 200 QUATTRO TRANS-AM
The Audi 200 quattro TransAm represented the next major phase of Audi’s competition program following the end of its factory World Rally Championship involvement.
Audi entered the American Trans-Am series in 1988 with the large 200 quattro sedan, applying the quattro concept to circuit racing in a market where all-wheel drive was highly unconventional.
The program was immediately successful. Audi won the manufacturers’ championship while Hurley Haywood secured the drivers’ title.
At Goodwood, the 200 quattro TransAm was part of Audi Tradition’s demonstration program with five-time Le Mans winner Frank Biela among the Audi racing veterans participating in the historic-car lineup.
AUDI 90 QUATTRO IMSA GTO
Audi’s 1989 90 quattro IMSA-GTO represented the more extreme evolution of the company’s American racing program.
Following the Trans-Am campaign, Audi moved into IMSA’s GTO category with a purpose-built competition car retaining the visual identity of the Audi 90 but featuring dramatically widened composite bodywork and quattro all-wheel drive.
Hans-Joachim Stuck became the program’s most successful driver, winning seven races during the season. Audi had skipped the opening Daytona and Sebring rounds, however, leaving the team unable to overcome the resulting points deficit despite its later success.
Three-time Le Mans winner Benoît Tréluyer drove the 90 quattro IMSA-GTO as part of Audi Tradition’s Goodwood program.
DKW UL 500
Audi Tradition’s representation at the Festival of Speed extended beyond four wheels.
A reconstructed 1937 DKW UL 500 joined the historic motorcycles taking part at Goodwood, representing the DKW side of the history that would ultimately become part of today’s Audi through Auto Union.
Its presence broadened Audi’s historical display beyond the familiar quattro competition era and connected the modern Audi Sport program with the company’s much earlier motorsport heritage.
SIGNIFICANCE
The 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed effectively bookended several generations of Audi motorsport history.
The Rallye quattro A2 represented Audi’s championship-winning World Rally Championship program and the period that established quattro as a competition technology. The 200 quattro TransAm and 90 quattro IMSA-GTO demonstrated how Audi subsequently transferred that concept to circuit racing in North America.
At the other end of the timeline was an entirely new Audi race car.
The world premiere of the R8 LMS GT2 expanded Audi Sport customer racing into a fourth category and produced what Audi described as the most powerful R8 LMS of all time. Its 640-hp naturally aspirated V10 gave it greater engine output and top-speed potential than either the GT3 or GT4 versions while its aerodynamic concept deliberately kept lateral performance below GT3 levels.
Having Tom Kristensen unveil and demonstrate the R8 LMS GT2 on the Goodwood Hill connected the new customer racer directly with Audi’s most successful era at Le Mans.
For Audi, Goodwood 2019 therefore combined a celebration of the quattro competition cars that established the brand’s modern motorsport reputation with the public debut of one of the final new racing derivatives of the naturally aspirated Audi R8.
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