Audi will enter the offseason with zero confirmed GT Daytona entries once the checkered flag waves over the 2017 season at Petit Le Mans.

With Stevenson Motorsports set to shutter its GTD effort using the German brand’s R8 LMS GT3 model, the lone full-time Audi in the field will fall silent, and other than Alex Job Racing’s part-time R8 which has yet to be locked in for 2018, the proud manufacturer is looking to improve its numbers after a tough season that has netted one win.

“We didn’t show the performance that we could have with the Audi R8 LMS GT3 in this series and we have to be prepared to live up to our own standards and have more cars and more cars that are capable of winning,” Audi Sport customer racing boss Chris Reinke told RACER. “We are having discussions with some very interesting possibilities, but I’m hoping we’ll have two cars all season next year. That’s my target.”

Rumors of a return by Magnus Racing, which competed in GTD through 2016 with its R8 LMS GT3 before switching to the Pirelli World Challenge series, could help Reinke. The likely expansion of Land Racing’s part-time Audi effort would also fill the void.

Asked if restoring the Four Rings’ stature as a GTD championship contender would be better served by lobbying IMSA for Balance of Performance breaks or ramping up Audi Sport’s R&D for the R8 LMS GT3, Reinke chose the latter while calling out the full factory GTD programs from newcomers Acura and Lexus.

“Taking the political path is not one that would show mid-term and long-term success,” he added. “For me, the more prestigious IMSA becomes, the more challenging it is for us as Customer Sport to keep up with the demand of it. Especially when we look at the GT3 field and see semi-works operations from the Japanese organizations, we struggle to keep up with the budget momentum that is needed.

“At the moment, it’s a contradiction to the spirit of customer racing. The racing, in the United States, has become so professional [in GTD], we have to attack it from a different angle in the future.”