Catching a crocodile

In a world where there is AI-generated material everywhere you look, creating a film where a race car storms down the Great Ocean Road and then drives right through the centre of busy downtown Melbourne should be a breeze. A few still images shot in some out of the way location, some clever coding and editing and ‘Bob’s your uncle’ – job done.

But that artificial approach was never a consideration when Audi Australia set out to create a special short film to re-introduce one of Audi sport’s most iconic race cars – one inexorably linked to Australia – ahead of the brand’s debut race in the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix. 

“The ‘Crocodile R8’ is the perfect bridge between the brand’s racing history in Australia and our entry into Formula 1,” says Audi Australia’s General Manager of Marketing, Nick Reid.

“It’s unique link to Australia and the fact that it represents what was the start of a hugely successful period of international competition for Audi in motorsport is tailor made to welcome the Audi Revolut F1 Team to Australia for the start of another epic motorsport journey.”

His idea of bringing the iconic R8 LMP ‘Croc car’ out of hibernation and in the hands of none other than champion driver, Allan McNish, struck a chord, but there were plenty of moving parts between concept and finished reality, with many a hurdle that made for a serious challenge.

The Audi R8 LMP900 Crocodile car in question is well known to race fans, having won the Race of a Thousand Years way back in 2000 in the hands of Rinaldo ‘Dindo’ Capello and Allan McNish. Its unique race livery was a nod to Australia hosting its first ALMS American Le Mans Series) race at the end of a season that had seen Audi dominate international Le Mans racing, including taking the first of what would be a modern record number of wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The ‘Croc car’ as it was dubbed, thrilled the crowds in Adelaide in 2000 and literally chewed up the opposition to give McNish the driver’s championship that year and Audi Sport the manufacturer’s championship. Following the race, the one-off car was retired and had since been a regular attraction at the Audi Museum Mobile in Ingolstadt. 

Reid’s idea, which was enthusiastically embraced by Audi head office, first saw the Audi Tradition department – a dedicated and talented group of engineers tasked with protecting the brand’s countless priceless historic vehicles – take the Croc car out for a shakedown run on an airstrip. Rigorous testing resulted in one of the R8’s twin turbos blowing – a significant issue given the car’s age. But, what could have been a major obstacle was merely a challenge for the Audi Tradition team, who fabricated a turbo casting from old blueprints and produced a new one from scratch. Problem solved.

Meanwhile back in Australia, the idea for the short film was rapidly moving from concept to functioning planning, which highlighted a veritable laundry list of things that would need to be done to make it happen. The Agency We Are Social took the reigns here coming up with a creative concept, while the award-winning Qube, under the direction of Chris Benny were brought in to turn it all into a polished, finished reality.

The concept called for the car’s original driver, three-time Le Mans winner Allan McNish, to reprise his role behind the wheel, pulling the dust covers off the car in a warehouse at an undisclosed location, before blasting up the Great Ocean Road in Victoria on his way to Melbourne where Audi’s next great motorsport challenge was about to take place.

McNish, now the Director of the Audi Revolut F1 Driver Development Program, was all for the idea, and given he would be heading south for the opening Formula 1 race, that piece of the puzzle slipped into place with uncharacteristic ease.

But putting a race car on public roads – never mind iconic stretches of blacktop like the Great Ocean Road is best described as a ‘logistical nightmare’. Wanting to drive one through a major city like Melbourne only increased the degree of difficulty by a significant margin. Add to all this a schedule that was tighter than two coats of paint, and those not invigorated by stress were best finding something else to occupy their time.

Permits and road closures, traffic marshals, police escorts, technical support for the car and transporting it all over Victoria required tremendous forward planning and execution. Hell, just getting the car to Australia in time and through customs presented all manner of challenges that had to be overcome – the car arriving Down Under just two weeks before the Australian Grand Prix and days before filming was set to commence.

Accompanied from Germany by a dedicated Audi Tradition team, the Croc car was prepared at Melbourne Performance Centre (MPC) who look after Audi customer racing in Australia. Here it was loaded onto a specialist MPC transporter along with spare parts, tyres and fuel and headed off for its first date with the cameras.

Two days of intense filming followed, starting at 4:45am each day and involving a small army of people. From those working with the production company to those with the agency, representatives from Audi Australia, mechanics, traffic control, safety on set, camera operators and sound, technicians, still photography, drone operators and catering. Then there were the police escorts and of course Allan McNish behind the wheel.

From the Great Ocean Road to filming in the heart of Melbourne. Another obscenely early start to have the car ready for sunrise and its starring role racing past Flinder’s Street Station to the amazement of onlookers. 

Then the iconic Hosier Lane, where its bright colour scheme looked right at home and then ultimately to the enormous warehouses of the Steamrail Victoria yards on the other side of the city. An intensive shooting schedule backed up by an equally demanding editing process to come up with the finished product in short-order time.

The result speaks for itself – a germ of an idea brought to life and delivered in perfect time to herald in a new era for Audi motorsport. 

Yes it would have been a whole lot easier to use AI, but the result would have been artificial and lack the sentiment that is at the very heart of the idea.

A real race car, real roads and locations and a real champion race driver – not to mention the excitement generated as the Croc car hurtled through Melbourne’s city streets, turning heads with its amazing race livery and the scream of its exhausts. There’s no way AI could have done all that.

The Croc car is on display at Audi AFLOAT, the off-track home of the Audi Revolut F1 Team for the duration of the race weekend.