The Audi R8 - 50 not out.

The Audi R8 continues to write motorsport history after the most successful Le Mans prototype of all time celebrated its 50th victory in the 1000km of Spa-Francorchamps.

Victory for Audi Sport UK team Veloqx drivers Jamie Davies and Johnny Herbert sees the R8 reach the milestone over a mere four year period and in only 60 races.

Since its debut at the 12-hour race at Sebring in March 2000, the Audi R8 has become the sports-prototype to beat. The R8 has already won the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans four times and is unbeaten at Sebring and in "Petit Le Mans" at Road Atlanta.

R8 drivers have won the ALMS five times in a row, and the R8 was also in a class of its own from the off in the Le Mans Endurance Series, held for the first time in 2004 - it won each of the four races.

The R8 development, overseen by Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang
Ullrich has not only set new standards as far as performance is concerned in sports car races but had also led the way in terms of reliability - the R8 has not suffered a single engine failure in a race to this day.

The Audi engineers also demonstrated "Vorsprung durch Technik" in many other areas in the R8 project. The R8 was the first Le Mans prototype with a pneumatic gear-shift, while Audi developed a unique system that allowed the complete gearbox and suspension unit to be changed in a little over four minutes - something the regulations have forbidden in the meantime.

With the R8 next in action in one of those unbeaten races, the Petit Le Mans, don't bet against the number of wins rising again in the near future.