Shannons SpeedSeries Technical Profile: Audi R8 LMS Evo II
Bosch Motorsport is proud to be the Official Technology Partner of the Shannons SpeedSeries and to celebrate, we’ll be taking a deep dive into the technical side of these amazing vehicles throughout the year, to find out how Bosch Motorsport’s range of high-end electronics power them to success.
Audi’s exit from customer sportscar racing at the end of 2023 has seen the iconic R8 and its wailing V10 slowly disappear from grids globally. Here in Australia however, we don’t tend to conform to global trends, and thus the R8 LMS Evo II still lives on at the front of the GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS field.
The Evo II is the final generation of a car that has dominated Australian GT racing for over a decade. The numbers speak for themselves, with Melbourne Performance Centre ran R8s winning nine Australian GT/GT World Challenge Australia titles since 2011. Add in three Bathurst 12 Hour triumphs from global Audi teams and you start to get the full picture of just how dominant the R8 has been over the years.
The 2026 GT World Challenge field sees five examples of the Evo II taking part, three from Melbourne Performance Centre and two from Team BRM, with both teams fielding stacked driving lineups that’ll keep the R8 as competitive as ever.
2025 Champions Broc Feeney and Brad Schumacher will look to defend their crown, with rising young star Valentino Astuti partnering Darren Currie in the sister Pro-Am MPC car, whilst Supercars stars Thomas Randle and Ryan Wood will look to spoil their party and bring the Audi’s success to Team BRM, with Randle partnering Mark Rosser and Wood continuing his partnership with Steve Brooks.
Bosch Motorsport and Audi have a long and storied relationship, with Bosch Motorsport ECU’s being at the heart of iconic cars like the Group B Audi Quattro, Audi 90 GTO and the dominant Audi A4 Super Tourers of the 90s, all the way through to the devastatingly dominant Le Mans Prototypes of the 2000s and early 2010s.
The R8 Evo II continues that relationship, with the Bosch Motorsport MS 6.4 ECU controlling the timing, fuel delivery and throttle response of the screaming naturally aspirated 5.2 litre V10, which produces around 430kw at 8,500 RPM and 550nm of torque depending on Balance of Performance restrictions.
Helping to bring that 430kw to a halt is Bosch Motorsport’s world renowned M5 ABS system, with its 12 stages of adjustable intervention giving drivers maximum control over their braking, with the ability to tune the intervention to the conditions and changable fuel loads throughout the one hour race. The ABS M5 system's high frequency control cycle enables the system split-second adjustments that maximise braking force whilst preventing lockup, giving the pilot maximum confidence in the braking zone.
Feeding the driver information is the previous generation Bosch Motorsport DDU 9. Whilst it may not be the latest class leading DDU 10 and 11 that can be found in some of its newer counterparts, the DDU 9 laid the foundation for those newer units, providing drivers and teams with the vital information needed to keep them up front and fighting for victories.
The R8 LMS Evo II is a stunning example of Bosch Motorsport’s full suite of high-end electronics, with its incredible amount of success speaking to the quality and performance of the product, affirming our strong commitment to providing everyone from OEMs to the grassroots weekend racer with the best possible hardware to break lap records and win races. You too can purchase the same products that have powered the R8 to titles across the globe by heading to your nearest Bosch Motorsport Authorised Dealer today.