Audi Races in Orchard Road

The rather quiet sounds of early morning traffic on the streets of Orchard was a common scenario for most Singaporeans on the morning of Nov 25, right up until the roaring engine sounds of Audi’s AutoUnion TypeC Grand Prix blasted through the streets. It was an incredible sound of mayhem, as Audi’s engineers gave fans a taste to what the 1936 machine can do.

The sound was like no other. It felt as if a jet plane was about to take off. But that was not all Audi was offering Singaporeans. On that special day, Audi showcased 70 years’ worth of their technological expertise in the motor sports by racing 4 of their distinctive top-notch cars through the streets of Orchard Road – The AutoUnion TypeC Grand Prix, Rally Quattro A2 and the Audi R8 Le Mans, the winning car in the most enduring Le Mans race in 2002 and, the new revolutionary Audi R8, a futuristic automobile which inherits Audi’s racing DNA. The race started at the Singapore Marriot Hotel at 10 am.

Just before the commencement of the race, Audi’s engineers assembled the cars in their pit lanes. Fans stood behind the cars, watching and anticipating feverishly for the flag-off. The cars were then moved from and aligned in 1 row, ready for their call to race. However, Audi had another installment for Singaporeans. The new Audi R8. 2 stunning R8 models, 1 in the shade of silver and the other in white were driven into the Singapore Marriot Hotel where the crowd was at awe at its streamline exterior. The silver R8 drove up onto the empty stage by the front of the hotel while the white R8 parked behind the other 3 racing cars. It was like an entrance made by rock stars in the 80’s. Fans were cheering and taking pictures at the arrival of the cars.

A fan in the crowd who would like to go by his first name Richard said, “The new R8 Roadcar is just stunning! The way how it looks and how it sounds, it’s very amazing. The sound is just incredible.”

Soon enough, fans climbed over the barriers and under chains and basically stood as close as they could beside the fleet of race cars. The race commenced minutes later, as the cars made their exit out of the hotel and onto the main streets of Orchard Road. It was an exciting and interesting experience watching these 4 cars in motion. The cars were driven by Audi’s experienced drivers through Dhoby Ghout and reached the pit stop at Raffles City Shopping Centre minutes later where fans and curious passer-bys were delighted to mingle around with the drivers and take pictures with the cars. They were also treated to mechanical works by the engineers as well as pit stop tyre changes.

“As a race car driver you always have the dream driving with the race cars on the street. You always wonder what it’ll be like and now I can imagine it – because it’s fantastic,” said Lucas Luhr, driver of the Audi R8 Le Mans.

These historic cars were exhibited in the National Museum from Nov 25 till Dec 2.