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The Audi R8 was the first in a line of world-beating sports-prototype cars from the Ingolstadt marque which would dominate Le Mans and would see Audi remain at the forefront of international sports-car racing for over 15 years.

If such an award could go to a machine, Audi R8-405 the car featuring in this book was surely the Man of the Match for the 2000 Le Mans 24 Hours. In the end it would finish second, behind one of its teammates which had a far less-troubled run, but it was not for want of trying by Allan McNish, his co-drivers Stphane Ortelli and Laurent Aello and their mechanics.

At Le Mans, R8-405 led the race for almost six hours, McNish setting fastest lap of the race in the morning still chasing his teammates in the eventual winning sister car. R8-405 would race on in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), winning twice in the hands of Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro.

In 2001, R8-405 competed for a further year in the ALMS, albeit in private Champion Racing hands, with regular drivers including Andy Wallace and Johnny Herbert. Despite its tender years, it would later go on to qualify as a historic car, and a host of new opportunities opened up as it became one of the most raced of all the R8s.

Key content

Limited Edition

Limited to only 50 copies and signed by the author and R8-405 driver Allan McNish.

The Author

Ian Wagstaff began his career in the offices of Motor Sport and Motoring News before becoming Press and Promotions Manager at Silverstone Circuit. He went on to be an editor in the trade press. He has been working freelance since 1986, writing for the motor-racing press, plus automotive trade and business publications. Ian has won a number of awards for his work and is twice winner of the Guild of Motoring Writers Montagu of Beaulieu Trophy for his books. He is also a past winner of the Motorworld Book Prize (Motorsport category) for his first book in the Porter Press Great Cars series which covered the story of the 1970 Le Mans-winning Porsche 917.

Title Information

Author: Ian Wagstaff
Publication: December 2022
Specifications: 285x235mm portrait hardback, page extent 320pp. Hand-bound in yellow leather with silver foil lettering, silver gilt edges and a recessed metal plate displaying the cars chassis number. Slip-cased in grey cloth.
Illustrations: Over 350
Language: English
Publisher: Porter Press International
ISBN: 978-1-913089-68-9