Rarely does a camouflaged prototype look so good, although in the case of this latest encounter with the upcoming performance flagship Audi RS5 its combination black matte and blue hue looks simply brilliant.

This particular prototype was spied conducting handling tests near the challenging Nürburgring race circuit in Germany, with Audi taking a ‘less is more’ approach in the hope it would sneak past unnoticed.

Its unique colour scheme likely suggests this particular car has been wrapped to preserve its paintwork, meaning a production version may be just around the corner.

In seemingly near-production guise, signature elements of Audi’s RS stable can be seen such as the twin oval exhaust pipes, enormous brake package and aggressive front end treatment.

At this point it is unclear what engine lies just past those menacing air intakes, although current speculation suggests it could use the same twin-turbo V10 found in the Audi RS6 range.

If this is the case, expect at least 430kW to be channeled through Audi’s Quattro all-wheel-drive system.

So far there has been no word on when the RS5 will debut, but it looks as though the BMW M6 has been put on notice.