"Ingolstadt, 18 February 2006 - High-calibre driver squad for Audi R10 - Seasoned campaigners at wheel of the new diesel sportscar - First race on 18 March at Sebring (USA) AUDI AG wants to achieve its ambitious goal, to be the first automobile manufacturer to win the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans with a diesel engine, with a high-calibre driver line-up: The two Audi R10 prototypes will be driven by Frank Biela (D), Dindo Capello (I), Tom Kristensen (DK), Allan McNish (GB), Emanuele Pirro (I) and Marco Werner (D) all seasoned campaigners who have proven their driving skills at the wheel of the Audi R8 over the course of the last few years. The R10 is powered by a newly developed V12 TDI engine producing almost 650 hp and 1100 Newton metres of torque. "The R10 project is the greatest challenge ever to face Audi Sport, explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. "It goes without saying that we needed drivers with experience in depth for this project, who also play an important roll during the development. Im delighted that we have managed to form such a strong driving squad for Le Mans and for the test race at Sebring. Each of the six Audi drivers has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 12-hour race at Sebring at least once, as a group they have recorded 17 Le Mans and twelve Sebring wins. Heading the list is the Dane Tom Kristensen (38) who has already won seven times at Le Mans and three times at Sebring. The six contest their first race with the R10 at the 12 Hours of Sebring (USA) on 18 March which is seen as a test race for Le Mans. With the exception of Tom Kristensen all the Audi drivers have already tested the new Audi R10 extensively. Kristensen was at the wheel of the R10 during the presentation in Paris in December and will get ample opportunity during the test and practice days before the Sebring race to familiarise himself with the new diesel sportscar. The two Audi R10 prototypes will be entered in Sebring and Le Mans by Reinhold Joests team, which previously supported the Audi Sport Development Team during the successful R8 project years. Both Audi R10 prototypes will race under the Audi Sport North America banner in Sebring. " http://www.*************/PitLane?viewThread=y&gID=1&fID=3&tID=75356 Sweet picture, my new wallpaper http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/1362/audir100012gy.jpg
Baloney ! No they don't, with the weak and lackluster competition they are going to face at LeMans again for the sixth straight year they could have a well seasoned Chimp driving those cars. What a joke. Audi outspends those poor privateer teams 100 to 1 ........... ON THEIR CATERED MEALS, not to mention how much more they spend on their cars. This is about as exciting a develpment as seeing an F1 team show up at your local SCCA regional race. I am an Audi owner and rooted for them in the days of Trans Am and World Rally. But their constant harping on these LeMans victories is hollow. Where was Audi when Jaguar, Nissan, BMW, Toyota, Mercedes Benz, Porsche, McLaren, Peugot, and all the factory big boys????? I guess they didn't have the budget to show up then since they were busy racing in the BTCC. Maybe now that they have resurected the Bentley name at LeMans we will see VW win the big one in a VW R10 (which will be nothing more than a Audi R10 with badges). Yawn !
Jon, You may be correct, but it still means something to win a 24 hour race in my book. Granted, the feat may be diminished in some way, but Audi should be proud of their continued success. Perhaps some manufacturers have even shied away from ALMS/ELMS because of Audi's dominance? I will concede that the endless self-promotion we call advertising has become annoying. The hyperbole surpasses even Washington politicians! CW
Well, the ACO rules are the same for everyone and the aforementioned manufactuerers who have taken part in the past are more than welcome to take part. All they need to do is open their check books but as things stand now, only Audi seems willing to step up to the plate in the P1 class and as we see, Porsche, Lexus, BMW, etc. are also entering the deal with factory efforts. Dont think I'd group Kristensen, Capello, Pirro, Biela, McNish and Werner in with a group of trained chimps as watching Kristensen drive alone is worth the price of admission. BHW
Jon - for one thing, in whatever era you are referring to, Audi simply didn't have the hardware. And with the exception of MBZ & Porsche, you could make the same complaint about any of the mfrs/teams who have competed/won @ LeMans. They simply come and go. And since the actual racing is seldom "close" over a 12/24hr. race; I'm as happy to see technology (diesel) being moved forward. for better or worse, time marches on, in racing as in all else......... james PS curious to hear a multi-turbo V-10 diesel racing engine...... remember the big truck racing series in Europe a few years ago?
If youre hoping to "hear" what the Audi turbo diesel sounds like youre in for a disappointment. The car only makes a noise when it fires up and runs virtually silent on the track. This, Audi says, is to aid in fighting driver fatigue but may well be the answer to all those well intentioned noise ordaniances which seem to be putting race tracks out of business lately. Certainly, the entry at Sebring has got to be disappointing so far. The race itself has become progressively more boring the past couple of years. Looks as though my schedule will allow me to go so putting in for credentials. BHW
The problem Audi face is that they must win. Anything less would be a dismal failure after all the hype. It would be very embarassing for them to lose to a Honda engined Mogrel.....
ACO has certainly done its part to slow the R8 down over the years, as the current R8 has around 300 less horsepwer than when they started. Its not Audi's fault that Mercedes had the now infamous flying CLK-R's on the Mulsanne straight, or that Porsche decided to develop the Cayenne instead of finishing its LeMans racer, which went on to live as the Carrera GT. Just for fun, here are the marques that have won LeMans since 1949, in order of number of wins with notes of consecutive wins in a row. You will find that Audi's perceived dominance is pretty mild compared to some others. Porsche: 16 wins overall: 2 in a row 1970-1971, 2 in a row 1976-1977, 7 in a row 1981-1987, 3 in a row 1996-1998 Ferrari: 9 wins overall: 6 in a row 1960-1965 Jaguar: 7 wins overall: 3 in a row 1955-1957 Audi: 5 wins overall: 3 in a row 2000-2002, 2 in a row 2004-2005 Ford: 4 wins overall: 4 in a row 1966-1969 (all the various GT-40's) Matra-Simca: 3 wins overall: 3 in a row 1972-1974 Peugeot: 2 wins overall: 2 in a row 1992-1993 Mercedes Benz: 2 wins overall And all the ONE win guys: **Mirage-Ford, **Rondeau Ford, Bentley, BMW, Mclaren, Mazda, Alpine-Renault, Aston Martin, Talbot Lago **These are not in the Ford total. The George Brett award goes to Porsche and Jaguar for having atleast one win in 3 different decades. Have fun digesting this, it was fun to research. Jimmy
It is not Audi's fault that there are no major manufactures left in prototype racing and it is not Audi's fault that Porsche whimped out and went LMP2 racing instead of LMP1 directly against Audi. Don't hate the players but hate the game itself.
interesting post Jimmy! the time that someone give me all results in one shoot. i m feel surprise by Audi i thaught they re was better like this, Porsche have the supremacy on track Le Mans, but this year Audi will do something better with RT10, it s sad they re no a competion Ferrari against Audi isn t it?
