Historic Audi Liveries Return to Nürburgring 24 Hours

Audi is set to compete in the Nürburgring 24 Hours with six Audi R8 LMS cars, including four models designed in historic Audi liveries to reflect the brand’s rich motorsport history. The liveries pay tribute to Audi’s unforgettable moments in racing and rallying, and the brand will look to secure its seventh overall victory at the race. Audi Sport customer racing will field four R8 LMS cars with unique designs, citing features from various eras, while private team Scherer Sport PHX will bring two more R8 LMS cars to the competition. The cars will feature designs that recall Audi’s past successes in the Trans-Am racing series, the IMSA GTO, Le Mans, the Monte Carlo Rally, and the DTM.

The first of the four Audi R8 LMS is the number 1 from Audi Sport Team Scherer PHX, which won the race last year. The car is associated with legendary successes, with its design reminiscent of models with which Audi made a name for itself in the USA in 1988 and 1989. The white background with historic Audi Sport colors is similar to the appearance of the Audi 200 quattro and Audi 90 quattro that won the Trans-Am racing series and the IMSA GTO, respectively. Frédéric Vervisch, who won the 24-hour race twice, shares the number 1 spot with his Audi Sport driver colleagues Mattia Drudi, Ricardo Feller and Dennis Lind.

The second car, the number 22 from Audi Sport Team Car Collection, harks back to the era of high technology, particularly Audi’s electrification in motorsport with the R18 e-tron quattro hybrid sports car. The silver-grey surfaces pick up the circuit board design that has characterized Le Mans sports cars since 2012, while the matte black surfaces above the wheels of the R8 LMS symbolize the open fender surfaces that were mandatory in LMP1 racing at the time. Red lines and angled surfaces include further characteristics from that era. The number 22 R8 LMS will be driven by four Audi Sport junior drivers: Luca Engstler, Max Hofer, Gilles Magnus and Dennis Marschall.

The third car, the number 39 from Audi Sport Team Land, features a throwback to the earliest era of Audi’s racing history. The car has an all-round yellow stripe combined with the historic Audi Sport colors of mahogany brown, gray and red on a white background, representing the rally years. Various models in this design won world championship titles and decided legendary competitions such as the Monte Carlo Rally, the San Remo Rally and the Safari Rally between 1984 and 1987. Christopher Haase and Christopher Mies, both two-time winners of the Nürburgring 24 Hours, take turns in this race car with their Audi Sport driver colleague Patric Niederhauser.

The fourth car, the number 40 from Audi Sport Team Scherer PHX, is driven by three former Audi DTM champions: Mike Rockenfeller, Timo Scheider and Martin Tomczyk. The three champions will start for Audi Sport Team Scherer PHX to mark the 40th anniversary of Audi Sport GmbH. Each of them has already won the DTM, and Scheider was one of the winners of the Nürburgring 24 Hours exactly 20 years ago, while Rockenfeller won it in 2020. The number 40 R8 LMS represents Audi’s legacy of success in motorsport.