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The Audi R8C is a Le Mans Prototype racecar that was built by Audi and designed by Peter Elleray to compete in the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans under the LMGTP category. It was developed alongside the open Audi R8R LMP category spyder, prior to being replaced by the all-new Audi R8 in 2000. ==Development== In 1998, when Audi announced its intention to enter the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, the plan was to enter only an open-cockpit prototype, known as the Audi R8R. However, following the dominant performance of GT1-class cars in the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans, the race organizers, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), had faced a problem. The GT1 cars had transformed over the past few years from race versions of supercars, as the rules intended, into purpose-built closed cockpit prototypes where one car was modified to be a street legal "production" showcar as almost an after thought. Though these cars were within the GT1 rules, they were not at all what the ACO had intended for the category. Consequently, the ACO modified classification rules for 1999. In GT ranks, the GT1 category was replaced with the GTS category. The GTS class was far more restrictive on modifications, appearance and meeting a set number of production cars than GT1, but still allowed manufacturers to race sportscars that may otherwise be uncompetitive without major modification. Additionally, in order to address advances and popularity of old GT1 class cars, the ACO created the LMGTP category. The LMGTP category would be for closed cockpit prototypes, which gave a place for the previous GT1 cars, but, under prototype rules now, also freed the from certain "production car" restrictions that they had been under in the GT1 category. Under these new rules, LMGTP closed-cockpit cars, with better aerodynamics than open LMP cars, and freed of the GT1 restrictions, had the very real potential of dominating the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans. Toyota and Mercedes both committed to either modifying existing cars or building brand new cars to take advantage of the new rules. With these developments in mind, Audi decided that it should invest in this new LMGTP class along with the R8R LMP program, hence the appearance of the R8C project. Unlike the R8R, for which Audi had turned to Dallara, they instead looked to Racing Technology Norfolk (RTN) to design and develop the new R8C. RTN assigned Peter Elleray the task, while Tony Southgate consulted on the project. The R8C and R8R both use the 3.6 litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine, but are radically different aerodynamically. While the R8R has a large number of vents placed on the nose, most of the intakes and air exits on the R8C are placed on the sides. The R8C also has thinner wheel arches, partially due to LMGTP rules, at the time, that stipulate the LMGTP cars use thinner tires than the LMP cars in order to off-set the better aerodynamic efficiency, and thus higher top speeds, of the LMGTP cars. Additionally, using a styling feature borrowed from the Toyota GT-One, the inside of the front wheel arches of the R8C are open, so that air does not build up in the wheel wells, and to benefit brake cooling. Like most, if not all other LMGTPs of the time, the cockpit is long, gradually sloping to maximise aerodynamic efficiency. Uniquely, though, the minimum roof height was achieved with the use of raised humps above the driver's position, so that there is a trough down the center of the roof to allow for more air to reach the rear wing. The rear of the car features a boxy, blunt tail that was developed from the improved R8R, however, it is longer in order to better maximize the R8C's aerodynamics. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Audi R8C」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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