Audi has killed the sport in the same way that the Porsche 962 and 956 did.... come on that was one of the great times in Sportscar racing...Porsche had their favourites then and it was common to see the men in the Porsche overalls passing out the chips or other parts when the 'blessed' team had fallen out...
Just wish there were more Audi teams true privateer or otherwise... Half a dozen R8s battling at Le Mans...yes please...
And if Audi is holding so many other manufacturers back how come no-one has built a car to the new regs. As soon as that happens the R8 will be dead as the rulesmakers will legislate it out of existance (or at least render it un-competive!).
Sportscar fans give thanks for Audi for without Audi there would have been no Bentley (Audi money and an Audi company) no Cosworth (Audi money and an Audi company) and no Lamborgini (are you getting the picture!)..and I'm not talking about the racing efforts of these companies... I'm talking about the whole shebang!
Then there;s FSI technology - and even when the new race car come out which will be instrumental in the USA finally giving up 8mpg SUV petrol engines and trading out to high tech diesel - that still won't be enough for some people!
jh