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The Audi R8, fresh off its Le Mans 24 hour safety car debut, will now take on the same role in the DTM Race Series (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) and the slick R8 will make a second debut serving as a racing taxi as well.

As you would expect from the rediculously slick engineered mid-engined sportscar, the required modifications were minimal. “There were not many modifications required, though, because the R8 possesses the genes of a perfect sports car,” says Werner Frowein, managing director of quattro GmbH.

A special version of the CLK is the CLK DTM AMG sports car, which looks similar to the full race car (shown below) for the German Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Racing Series which has to use a normally aspirated 4.0 L V8, limited to less than 500 hp.

However 100 Coupés and 80 Convertibles were released for sale in Europe, using AMG‘s supercharged 5.4 L V8, now producing 428 kW (582 PS) and 800 N·m (590 ft·lbf). The front and rear track are widened by 2.9 and 4.2 inches (74 and 110 mm) respectively, and special tires and suspension modifications allow the car to pull 1.35 g (13 m/s²) of lateral acceleration!!!

0-100 km/h acceleration is just 3.9 seconds, and top speed is 320 km/h (199 mph). In Germany, the car cost 236,060 euro after taxes.

I saw my very first Mercedes Benz CLK DTM Coupe while at the starting line of the 2007 Bullrun in Montreal, QC.

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Mercedes Benz DTM Photo Albums
Mercedes Benz CLK DTM Coupe – Bullrun 2007 Photos

[Source: WorldCarFans.com via Audi]