Its streak of Le Mans victories between 2000 and 2005 was broken only in 2003 by the Bentley Speed 8, another race car fielded that year by Volkswagen Group.

In 1997, sports car racing and especially the Le Mans 24 Hours was popular among factories such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Toyota, Nissan Motors, and others.

Yet, during the autumn of 1998, after the necessity of GT1 homologation was dropped in favour of LM-GTP prototypes, closed GT coupés like the Porsche 911 GT1, Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR, and the Toyota GT-One proved successful.

In response, Audi also ordered their newly acquired Norfolk-based Racing Technology Norfolk, led by Tony Southgate, to build a closed-cockpit car using the same drivetrain.

After the 1999 Le Mans shame, Mercedes retired from GTs to focus on the return of the DTM touring cars in 2000, as well as on F1.

[3] The R8 won a hat trick at Le Mans in 2000–2002, campaigned by Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest and driven by Tom Kristensen, Emanuele Pirro, and Frank Biela.

During its campaign, the Joest pit crew was able to change the entire rear transaxle of a damaged R8 — a process which usually takes between one and three hours — in as low as three minutes and 16 seconds.

Audi Sport's program saw tragedy in 2001 when on April 25, popular ex-F1 driver Michele Alboreto died in an accident after suffering a high-speed tyre failure during an R8 test session at the Lausitzring in eastern Germany.

[4] The Bentley Speed 8, which was somewhat based on the R8 ran at Le Mans from 2001 to 2003, winning in 2003, used a heavily modified 4.0-L version of the V8 engine from the Audi R8 .

Tom Kristensen, who won the previous three 24 Hours of Le Mans races in an R8, was assigned to drive the Bentley Speed 8, and helped guide the team to victory.

However, the car was able to outlast all other competitors to eventually take its fifth checkered flag at the Circuit de la Sarthe and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

To date, the R8 remains one of the fastest petrol-powered LMPs, setting a 3:29 at Le Mans, which was beaten only by the Lola-Aston Martins.

Emanuele Pirro, Frank Biela, and Marco Werner made history by becoming the first drivers to win the Le Mans 24-hour race in a diesel-powered car.

The Audi R10 TDI completed a record 380 laps of the La Sarthe circuit, with Pirro at the wheel for the finish.

French trio Sébastien Loeb, Éric Hélary, and Franck Montagny took second in the Pescarolo Judd No 17, four laps back.

The R8 continued to campaign the American Le Mans Series through the first half of the 2006 season, and made its final US appearance on July 1, 2006, at Lime Rock Park, Connecticut, piloted by McNish and Capello.

The R8 ended its career in style by winning the race, marking the 50th American Le Mans Series victory for the Audi R8.