Rings of Fire

Audi India invited Car India to the Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) in Chennai for some track-day insanity at their Audi Weekender event. Here’s what happened when we drove some ridiculously fast Audi cars on one of India’s most iconic racing circuits.

- Harket Suchde

THE HARSH CHENNAI SUN IS BLAZING down on the circuit in Sriperumbudur as six gleaming Audi machines line up in the pit-lane. I can feel perspiration collecting at the centre of my palms, my throat has suddenly gone dry, and my left foot is tapping a rat-a-tat-tat on the dead pedal of its own volition. All this is happening in the hot seat of the Audi R8 LMX, the track tweaked limited-edition version of Audi’s famous R8 supercar from the last model year. That 5.2-litre V10, the very same one that was the heart and soul of the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, is thrumming behind me.

Let me give you a rundown of the numbers — power: 570 PS, torque: 540 Nm, 0-100 in 3.4 seconds, and a top whack of 320 km/h. Anticipation level: over 9,000. Everything from the ride to throttle response and the brakes have been dialed up to eleven in this one, and if that wasn’t enough, this taut, track-day animal shoots lasers from its eyes. And, no, that wasn’t a hollow hyperbole; this was the world’s first production car to sport laser high beams.

I find myself right behind the lead car as the sharp crackle of static disturbs the V10’s baritone, and a voice on the walkie says, “Okay, looks like we are about ready to go.” Oh, yeah, did I forget to mention? The lead car is an RS 6 Avant in menacing black, with none other than Audi R8 LMS Cup competitor and Indian motor sport’s latest leading light, Aditya Patel, showing us the ropes in this, his home-town stomping yard. The air is rent with the angry bellows of V10s and the equally menacing growls of the Avants’ V8s — and we’re off.