source: Audi of America
- The Audi R8 will take its final lap around the storied Laguna Seca raceway during the annual Monterey Car Week
- Audi enthusiasts invited to see final model year R8 and full Audi e-tron model line at Legends of the Autobahn Concours
- Brand will continue motorsports legacy with 2026 Formula 1 entry
Audi of America says farewell to the Audi R8 at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion hosted at Laguna Seca during this year’s annual Monterey Car Week. A celebration of the past and a look to the future – the R8 will take its final laps around the storied track led by the RS e-tron GT, the spearhead of the brand’s electric offensive and the first all-electric RS model from Audi Sport.
Born on the track and built for the road – the R8 was the most powerful Audi production model ever when it debuted 15 years ago. The Audi R8 Coupe is a true thoroughbred with a strong racing heritage, sharing 50 percent of its parts with the R8 GT3 LMS race car.
As an ode to the R8’s motorsports legacy, each R8 at Monterey Car Week will debut a unique individual vehicle wrap. Created by Frank Lamberty, the exterior designer of the first generation Audi R8, the wrap is inspired by the R8’s born on the track and built for the road ethos, featuring a split motif that starts as an ordinary road car at the front and fades to a design inspired by liveries found on the R8 GT3 race cars. Honoring the R8’s last U.S. track laps happening at Laguna Seca, each wrap also features a line drawing of the famed road course on the roof.
Monterey Car Week
Audi will continue its longstanding tradition of energizing automotive enthusiasts from around the world at the annual Monterey Car Week.
On Thursday, Aug. 17, Audi will celebrate the past and showcase the future with a vehicle display at Legends of the Autobahn which will include two R8 V10 performance Coupes, one RWD model, alongside the full Audi e-tron model line: an RS e-tron GT, Q4 Sportback e-tron, Q8 Sportback e-tron, and Q8 e-tron SUV.
On Saturday, Aug. 19, the two R8s will also be on display at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion hosted at Laguna Seca. In the afternoon, guests will have the opportunity to watch the R8 take its final laps around the famed track, led by nine-time Le Mans winner, Tom Kristensen, in an Audi RS e-tron GT pace car.
At both events, Audi fans and consumers can also meet R8 designer, Frank Lamberty.
Motorsport is an integral part of the Audi DNA
The R8 features the same naturally aspirated V10 engine block found in the R8 LMS racecar, with no other Audi model bearing a closer tie to racing. The 2023 R8 V10 performance model features a naturally aspirated 5.2-liter FSI V10 engine that generates 602 horsepower and 413 lb-ft of torque (532 horsepower and 398 lb-ft for the RWD). Each generation of the R8 brings to the road know-how acquired on the racetrack and from the legacy of Audi endurance racing.
In the future, Audi will take on a new challenge in motorsport with an entry into Formula 1, with new regulations from 2026 paving the way for a greater focus on sustainability and electrification. Positioned to be the next pinnacle racing series, and a platform for innovation and technology transfer, Formula 1 is the ideal stage for the brand to once again demonstrate Vorsprung durch Technik by bringing a new era of performance and motorsport to customers and fans.
