With 16 victories, the Audi R8 has been the most successful racing car in the ADAC GT Masters during the last four years. The Audi R8 LMS ultra will be lining up on the grid once again in the Super Sports Car League in the 2013 season. Current team champions MS RACING will, in future, be among teams putting their faith in the mid-engine sports car from Audi, the brand with the four-ring emblem.

The Audi R8 LMS ultra has been further improved for its fifth season in the ADAC GT Masters. Deliveries to customer teams began in February, but the 2013 version of the R8 made its first public appearance at this week's International Motor Show in Geneva.

Audi has paid a great deal of attention to optimising the R8's aerodynamics. Changes to the way airflow is directed are particularly evident at the rear of the car. The wing, whose geometry remains unchanged, is now mounted differently and has been repositioned. So for the first time, the customer sport racing car has a rear wing mounted in the hanging position. This solution is aerodynamically more efficient.

The rear diffuser is another new development. Divided into a central sector with two channels that extend to right and left, its job is to achieve the best possible diffusion of the air. The twin exhaust tailpipes have now been moved to where the number plate is normally found on most road cars.

The front end is also aerodynamically more efficient, even if changes are barely apparent. A new underbody component serves to direct air in a more precise manner into the two wheel arches that are vented through bonnet louvres above the wheels. Redesigned side mirrors help to further improve the drag coefficient. These improvements to aerodynamic efficiency have endowed the Audi R8 LMS ultra with an extra turn of speed.

New suspension kinematics on the front axle reduce the racing car's tendency to dip under heavy braking. Major suspension changes were not required for this mod, with only the pickup points on the chassis needing a rework.

The new wheels afford several advantages. Forged aluminium rims are now retained by steel nuts, as in the DTM, which helps to ensure that pit stops go as smoothly as possible. After homologation by the FIA, motor racing's governing body, this approach, which was formerly approved only in endurance racing, has now gained acceptance in the ADAC GT Masters as well. Another bonus, each new rim weighs around a kilogramme less than the cast magnesium variety used in the past.

The sprint version of the Audi R8 LMS ultra to be deployed in the ADAC GT Masters now has a Makrolon windscreen that is three kilogrammes lighter plus a lighter three-plate sintered racing clutch. Both these components were previously only to be found on endurance racing versions of the R8. An update kit from Audi enables teams to upgrade an R8 LMS ultra to the current 2013 spec.