Car manufacturers aligning with sports teams is no new phenomenon in our high-definition age, but unless you’re a fan of the automotive brand and a fan of the team in question, it runs the risk of being downright alienating to some spectators. Audi have had a long standing relationship with La Liga super club, Real Madrid, and now they’ve put that partnership to work with a one-off Audi R8 LMS Ultra, which they’re calling the ‘Real Madrid Edition’. We kind of hate it already.
In honour of the relationship between Real Madrid and Audi, the car brand presented a special version of their R8 LMS Ultra racing car, carrying the name of the football club down its flanks with appropriate signage to go with it. During the presentation, Real Madrid footballers were offered the chance to co-pilot with racing drivers Marc Gené and Miguel Molina on the closed Jarama circuit, near Madrid.
As an aside to footballers playing pretend-racing-driver for the day and the photo opportunities, Audi did hand over the Real Madrid players’ new company cars. Most players chose the Audi Q7 luxury SUV, while Christiano Ronaldo went for the R8. Karim Benzema went for an Audi RS5, Xabi Alonso went for a rakish A7 and Jose Mourinho a spacious A8. We’re surprised Christiano Ronaldo didn’t go for an R8 Spyder and we’re surprised there weren’t any more RS5 or RS4 takers.
