From a drag racing perspective, 1st gear being a little bit steeper will help you get off the line a touch quicker. Also the tighter spacing of the 4-5-6 ratios in the A10 helps keep it in it's powerband better. The A8 winds out to 64-6500 (which is past peak power) so it's shift recovery comes back around the 5k mark. In other words, a somewhat stock LT1 is wheezing heavy in the higher rpm range...but it needs to in order to get a shift recovery that isn't too low in the power curve.
Taking out the TM in the A8 at the track I think would negate the firm positive shifts we have seen in the A10 Furd and the ZL1 so in that aspect, it's a wash.
Edit; Ha, King beat me to the response.