Fastest lap time for Audi-CR 8 at the 12H Hungary 2008
(October 10, 2008) During the first 12 hours race at the Hungaroring on the 27th of September the fantastic sports car, the Audi CR-8 with the famous Dutch driver Jaap van Lagen, has set its fastest lap time. After the qualification it finished on the 4th place with a lap time of 1:53,498. This was just 0,2 seconds behind the Jetalliance Porsche 996 RSR. The difference between the final winner, the Schubert BMW Z4, and the Audi was actually less than 2 seconds. This Audi CR-8 is the competition race version of Audi’s R8 sports coupe, developed and prepared following an initiative by Creventic BV, the organisers of the TOYO TIRES 24H of Dubai and the 24H SERIES.

In the last quarter of the year 2007 Creventic has set up a special department for the development and preparation of the two Audi CR-8’s, as the racing competition version is being called. Modifications to the first car before the 24H Dubai in January 2008 has been kept limited in order to acquire the necessary experience first. Nevertheless, slight alterations of the engine management system already made it possible to increase the power output to approximately 430 hp.

A complete revised Audi CR-8 arrived at the 12H Hungary on the 27th of September 2008. Creventic’s team of specialists made various modifications to build a race car which is able to compete with a Porsche GT3 Cup version, for instance a central race radiator, an additional fuel tank for endurance race events, central wheel mounts and a sequential gearbox. Another big transformation was the change to lightweight carbon fibre bodywork parts, which gives the car more body and looks. All these variations have lowered the vehicle weight and enhanced the performance of the car. Gerrie Willems: “At the Hungaroring the car has proved that it can be as fast as a Porsche RSR. After the qualification it finished on the 4th place with a lap time of 1:53,498, just behind a BMW Z4 and the two Porsches 996 RSR. Unfortunately during the warming up the car got a broken fly wheel. Consequently, we had to replace the gearbox. At 7 pm the car was back on the track and presented impressive lap times again among the fastest drivers in the night.“ The famous driver Jaap van Lagen, known from the Porsche Supercup and the WTCC was also impressed with the performance of the car. “The Audi CR-8 has great potential and is already comparable with a Porsche” says Jaap.

To finalize the Audi CR-8 it will undergo various tests in the following months and the car will also be taken to the fourth edition of the TOYO TIRES 24H of Dubai. “For interested drivers and teams it is possible to rent the race version of the Audi R8 and see his performance from a closer view”, says Willems. For more information about the car and the driving possibilities, please go to the special website www.cr-8.com


Sound Maschine : Auto Bild Audi CR-8 Tracktest
Es ist 17.30 Uhr. Knapp eine halbe Stunde noch.
Dann soll sie losgehen: Meine exklusive Ausfahrt in einem der ersten Renn-Audi-R8. Doch weit und breit nix zu sehen von der Flunder! Ich laufe die Boxengasse des Nürburgrings ab. Greller und dumpfer Sound wechseln sich ab. Sie kommen von den Motorrädern, die jetzt auf der Strecke sind. Doch dann ein ganz eigenartiges Geräusch: Achtzylinder- Brabbeln, gemixt mit einem Schuss Moped-Geknatter.

Der Verursacher des Hörspiels für Renn-Fans steht längst vor Box Nummer 30 und läuft warm: Der Creventic CR-8. Kurzes Shake-Hands mit Ivo Breukers. Der Holländer, der den R8 zum CR-8 gemacht hat. „Ich wollte nicht nur Porscheund Co. in meinem Rennen sehen“, erzählt der Rennfahrer und Organisator der 24 Stunden von Dubai lässig. Also baute er kurzerhand in Eigenregie zwei Audi R8 zu waschechten Rennwagen um. Einer davon steht hier. Mehr.. / Read More...(PDF 2.6 MB)

The Audi CR-8 GT3 specifications (also deliverable in GT4 spec)
After the introduction and shakedown of the Audi CR8 GT3 during 24hDubai in January 2008, its performance has been further improved.
Apart from some major improvements, like sequential 6speed gearbox, weight reduction, central wheel locking system, Brembo racing brakes, 120 litre FIA approved fuel tank, a lot of other specifications are updated. To name a few, engine power, increased torque, drive shaft improvement, Sachs race clutch and lighter fly wheel, heated front window and a new and lighter dashboard.

Specification:
Although this race version is initial build to GT3 specification, on customer request changes to specification can be looked at, eg. a GT4 specification depending on an eventually approval of the homologation.

Prospects and interested parties can of course contact us and where possible specific requirements as made by the customer can be fulfilled.

For the new, upgraded Audi Specifications see:
CR-8 Specifications

The TOYO TIRES 24h of Dubai 2008 had the debut showing the world the first metres of the Audi CR-8 on the race track. The car developed by Creventic BV from Holland made a few testing laps on Sunday 6th on a small part of the circuit of the Dubai Autodrome. Running without any problem, Cor Euser worked for getting a set up in the car. The handling of the car felt OK from the start.
At the free practice on Thursday Jaap van Lagen and Cor Euser worked further on the car adjusting the AST suspension and wing. During qualifying and night practice the CR-8 got better and better. All the time the car showed no problem at all, quite amazing looking at the fact there have been no tests with this car so far.
On race day Cor Euser took the start. The car performed well and Cor could easily run a 2m15s with the CR-8. Cor was pleased about the balance of the car. After one hour he came in for refuelling. After refuelling Cor wanted to start the engine again but the electronic gearbox was stuck in first gear and it was not possible to start the car. The CR-8 mechanics plugged their laptops in and found an unknown error and after calling many experts in Europe it turned out that the car was missing a modification of a hydraulic unit which is operated by the electronic gearbox. This modification should exactly avoid what happened to the car at the refuelling station. The team did not have a spare unit with them. The other Audi CR-8 the team brought to Dubai had a manual gearbox so did not had this specific part. With Dubai closed for the weekend and no Audi dealer to reach it looked like the team could not continue the race. Suddenly in the night a friendly race enthusiast turned up in the teams pit box 3A, telling he had good contacts with Audi. With a special tester it was confirmed that the problem was caused by this particular unit. Fortunately our contact had access to the Audi warehouse in Dubai where this part could be picked up and mounted. After mounting the engine could be started again and needed to learn all the gears. (A part of this was filmed and is becoming quite popular on YouTube now). In the meantime in the middle of the night it was raining heavily. During “Code 60” Ivo Breukers went out on the track. The car was performing perfect again and could be shifted through all the gears.
The car was on manual cut rain tires and to avoid every risk, and keeping in mind the weather forecast that the rain would stop in the morning, the team decided to come in and to wait for the dry track so the slicks could be mounted again. In the early morning later than expected the track got dryer and Ivo Breukers and Jaap van Lagen could drive the car without any problem in a few stints to the finish.
In total the CR-8 did 113 laps without any problem at all. The replaced hydraulic part was the modified one so it is expected this specific problem will not occur again.
Although the team would have liked to see that they could have had more track time it is satisfied with the reliability it showed on the track during this test race. The CR-8 will now go on a heavy, heavy diet. After this diet it will look a little different and should have lost almost 200 kilo’s. Together with some other modifications the car will become a little faster for the next test.