2015 LM24: Audi preview

In recent years Audi and winning have gone hand in hand at Le Mans. The team has racked up a mind boggling 13 race victories since its maiden win in 2000. Only Bentley (2003) and Peugeot (2009) have prevented total Audi dominance.

Since its introduction in 2011 the R18 has remained undefeated at the Circuit de la Sarthe. Audi was disappointed to lose its world champion status to Toyota in 2014 and has begun to remedy that in the 2015 season with victories for the lead #7 car at Silverstone and Spa.

Indeed the Fässler, Lotterer and Tréluyer combination is aiming for its fourth win at Le Mans in the last four years (2011, 2012 and 2014).

Porsche might have the fastest car this year, but Audi has shown time and again that outright pace is not needed to win over 24 hours. You’d be a brave punter to bet against Audi making it victory number 14 this year.

Audi R18 e-tron quattro

#7 – Marcel Fässler (SUI), André Lotterer (GER), Benoît Tréluyer (FRA)
#8 – Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Loïc Duval (FRA), Oliver Jarvis (GB)
#9 – Filipe Albuquerque (POR), Marco Bonanomi (ITA), René Rast (GER)

​Succeeding with efficiency: Audi aims for 14th Le Mans win

• Endurance classic on 13th and 14th June at La Sarthe
• Audi with lowest energy consumption in the field
• R18 e-tron quattro with new Audi ultra technology

9 June 2015. Audi is set on continuing its string of victories in the world’s toughest endurance race on 13th and 14th June. Five times in succession, the sports cars with the four rings have won the iconic race since 2010. Audi is now battling for an amazing 14th victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours in the past 16 years. The efficiency technology Audi ultra is a major element of the Audi R18 e-tron quattro hybrid sports car’s overall concept this year.

The iconic race has been held in the ‘Départment Sarthe’ in western France since 1923, but there is a lot more to it than history. The race also enjoys worldwide prestige because it is unrivaled by any other motorsport competition in terms of combining tradition and progress. Le Mans is the toughest test bed for Audi’s technologies. In 2006, the brand was the first manufacturer ever to have won the race with diesel power. The first winner with hybrid drive had the four rings emblazoned on the hood as well – in the 2012 season. Audi’s diesel-electric powertrain has been unbeaten at Le Mans to this day, plus it is the most economical one at the moment: none of the four manufacturers in the LMP1 category consumes as little fuel energy as Audi does.

“This efficiency perfectly matches the ‘More from less’ formula which is Audi ultra’s take-home message,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. The ACO, FIA and WEC officials managed to create a set of regulations that enables a thrilling contest between various efficiency concepts.” The advantages provided by Audi’s efficiency technology in racing are made visible in direct competition, as four manufacturers are competing with four different concepts – from the type of combustion technology used, to the engine’s configuration in the race car, to the extent and type of energy recuperation and storage. No other automobile world championship features an equally diverse range of technology.

“This is what makes Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) so attractive, so the resulting challenges are equally great,” says Chris Reinke, Head of LMP at Audi Sport.

The season so far has shown: Audi’s engineers have risen to these challenges. Marcel Fässler (CH), André Lotterer (D) and Benoît Tréluyer (F) won the first two races of the season at Silverstone (GB) and at Spa-Francorchamps (B). They are traveling to Le Mans as the leaders of the standings. At Spa, the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro was seven seconds faster in qualifying and four in the race than last year – in spite of now having to consume 2.8 percent less fuel. Its updated V6 TDI engine, the hybrid system delivering twice its previous output and the overall concept that has particularly been optimized with respect to aerodynamics prove the capabilities of the ‘ultra’ principle.

In addition to its technological fortes, Audi can rely on extraordinary team performances and the passion of its professional drivers. Fässler, Lotterer and Tréluyer have jointly won the Le Mans 24 Hours three times in the past four years for Audi and are competing in car number ‘7.’ Loïc Duval (F), who is sharing number ‘8’ with Oliver Jarvis (GB) and Lucas di Grassi (BR), won the iconic event two years ago. Filipe Albuquerque (P), Marco Bonanomi (I) and newcomer René Rast (D) are tackling the race in car number ‘9.’ The squad that Audi, as in the years before, is again relying on is the most successful Le Mans team of all time: Audi Sport Team Joest. Reinhold Joest’s outfit has won the 24-hour race an amazing 15 times.

Many observers are expecting an extremely thrilling edition of the endurance classic. The race will start on Saturday, June 13, at 15.00. The TV channel Eurosport will be airing live coverage of the 83rd running of this classic event.

Three Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars at Le Mans

• Entry list for Le Mans 24 Hours published
• Organizer accepts all three nominations submitted by Audi
• Tom Kristensen ‘Grand Marshal’ at Le Mans 24 Hours

5 February 2015. The wait is over: The Selection Committee of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) has accepted all nominations submitted by Audi for the 83rd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours. As a result, three Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars will be competing in the world’s major endurance race on June 13 and 14, 2015, for which Tom Kristensen has been appointed as ‘Grand Marshal’ by the organizer.

The ACO published the entry list of 56 participants at its press conference in Paris. Thanks to its 13th victory at Le Mans last year Audi had previously been guaranteed a place on the grid in the LMP1 class. Last year’s winners Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer (CH/D/F) are set on battling for their fourth victory this year in the number ‘7’ Audi R18 e-tron quattro.

For the limited number of available entries, the Selection Committee has now accepted the two other nominations submitted by Audi Sport Team Joest as well: Lucas di Grassi/Loïc Duval/Oliver Jarvis (BR/F/GB) will be tackling the iconic race in the number ‘8’ hybrid sports car. Filipe Albuquerque (P), Marco Bonanomi (I) and new signing René Rast (D) will complete the Audi line-up in car number ‘9.’

“We’re delighted that the ACO has accepted our three nominations,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, who attended the event in Paris together with Chris Reinke, Head of LMP. “Audi will be competing at Le Mans for the 17th consecutive time and has been unbeaten with its hybrid drive so far. This year, we’re welcoming a new competitor. This provides further proof of the positive development that prototype racing and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) have seen since 2012.”