One thing were you can see that there is connection between the race and the road car is in the same R8 engine you mention.
The FSI (hope I got the initials right) is a technology that is used in both the race engine and in road-going engines.
Also remember that the horsepower figures quoted are almost allways the power at the driveshaft. The output at the wheel is very different, and I guess that is one of the areas where it has improved greatly.
The reason why there are restrictors is mainly safety, as was said in the mid 80s cars were too fast. But don't think this has taken away from building better engines, I daresay that if you took the restrictors from the Judd V10, from example, you would have more than enough horsepower. And those 1000hp you mention were more common in qualifying trim than in race trim...
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