Audi R18 e-tron quattro ‘long-tail’ in full flight

Audi plans to defend its 2012 Le Mans crown with a long-tail version of its R18 e-tron quattro. To help prepare for Le Mans Audi will race one R18 ‘long-tail’ at the 6 Hours of Spa this weekend. And to prepare for Spa they took a ‘long-tail’ to Monza for high speed testing.

The R18 ‘long-tail’ isn’t necessarily chasing outright success at Spa, rather Audi says, “The comparison, however, is not focused on absolute lap times. Instead, the team will analyze the time differences to be expected between both models on individual track sectors. In addition, practical aspects of using the second body version will be reviewed and data generated for the fielding in the race at Le Mans.”

You can see unofficial video of the R18 ‘long-tail’ at Monza after the break. To further imitate the long straights of the famous La Sarthe circuit Audi ran at Monza without using the chicane at the end of the main straight, meaning the ‘long-tail’ could turn into the curva grande at full throttle. Entry speed has been estimated at around 340km/h. Plenty fast in other words!