It has only taken 5.5 years to achieve. . . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

The 138^th GT3 model of the second-generation Audi R8 LMS has been produced.

That near-production race car (i.e., it share half of its components with the “regular” R8) has been on sale since the end of 2015.

So this means about 5.5 years.

138 cars.

(Photo: Communications Audi Sport customer racing / Bildagentur Kräling)

Audi notes that the first-gen version, which was in production from 2009 to 2015, had total sales of 137 cars.

Of all of the GT3 cars built by Audi (a total of 275 so far), there have been 13 vicoctires in 24-hour races, eight in 12-hour races, and a whole bunch more vicotires in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Speaking of the second-generation besting the first, Chris Reinke, head of Audi Sport customer racing, said, “As we see in our competitive environment, it is by no means a matter of course that a successor is as commercially successful as the predecessor model or even surpasses it.”

Still: One car?