The Thrill of Racing Cars, for the Road

Audi's flagship sports car, the R8, will make its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show in March. With the show's opening imminent, its full form is gradually being revealed.

Recently released teaser photowas a silhouette image focusing on the LED headlights, one of its technical highlights. This latest release, however, is a movie – a dynamic video of it tearing up a circuit.

Heinz Hollerweger, Managing Director of quattro GmbH, which handles Audi's high-performance RS models, commented on the new R8: "Since the development of the first R8, we have continuously strived to share the excitement of racing cars with our road cars. The new R8, wider and flatter, represents a significant evolution in aerodynamics and has become a sports car with a distinctive design."

Its exterior, naturally, is camouflaged in the video, so we cannot discern the details closely, butnew TTwe can catch glimpses of the R8's new form, including the large front grille adopted from the new TT, the newly designed vertical slats of the front grille, and a large, fixed rear wing.

Audi works driver Frank Stippler, who handled the steering during this test drive, shared his impressions: "With a maximum output of 610 ps and peak torque of 560 Nm, the power generated by the mid-mounted V10 engine delivers ample performance in any situation."

The released video also includes footage of the rev counter and the engine smoothly revving to 8,000 rpm as soon as the start button is pressed. We eagerly anticipate the evolution of the R8 as it moves to the next stage, carrying forward the icon of the first generation.