Beijing, July 12, 2003

Thousands of Chinese people were greeted to an unusual sight in Beijing a week ago on Sunday: To coincide with the market launch of the A8, Emanuele Pirro drove a lap of the Chinese capital’s famous “forbidden city” in the powerful 610 hp sports car Audi R8.

“That was an incredibly emotional experience,” enthused Emanuele Pirro, who drove among the cars, trucks and bicycles of the normal city traffic with the 2002 Le Mans 24 Hour race-winning car.

“The spectators were really impressed.” The Italian flies to China again on Tuesday, to show the Audi R8 in action on a race track close to Beijing.