Audi will bring two diesel-powered R15 sports racing cars, all driven by Le Mans veterans. Dindo Capello and Allan McNish, who won Sebring in 2006 and Petit Le Mans in 2007 and 2008, will drive one car; Lucas Luhr, and Marco Werner, the other. Petit Le Mans
Petit Le Mans will be only the third competition outing for the new Audis. Many people believe Audi’s 2009 Le Mans loss was the result of insufficient race experience.
Audi faced off against Peugeot at Le Mans, losing the race for only the second time this decade. The usually perfect Audi operation missed the setup, leaving the Audis down on speed. One car was retired after an accident; another spent so much time in the pits it was never in the running. The lone surviving Audi finished third, six laps behind the leader.
“We’re convinced that we weren’t able to fully exploit the potential of the R15 TDI at Le Mans,” Dr. Ullrich said. “At Road Atlanta, we’ll have the opportunity to test on Sunday before the race so that we should be in a better position than we were at Le Mans. Despite the strong competition by Acura/Honda, Peugeot, Mazda, Oreca and other prototype teams. we figure on having good chances of fighting for victory, as we did over the past few years.”
The R15’s predecessor, the R10 TDI, was the first Audi—indeed, the first sports racing prototype—to use a turbocharged diesel engine. The R10 was incredibly successful, winning its debut at Sebring in 2006, and winning Le Mans and the American Le Mans Series championship three years’ running. The R10 won 18 races in the ALMS, including winning Petit Le Mans from 2006–2008.
Audi obviously hopes to achieve the same domination in 2010 with the R15.
Besides avenging its on-track defeat, Audi is returning to America to promote its turbo-diesel road cars. The Audi Q7 TDI 3.0 has been available in the USA since the beginning of the year, and the Audi A3 TDI 2.0 will arrive at U.S. dealerships in fall.
Petit Le Mans powered by MAZDA6 caps a four-day, twelve-race motorsports weekend at Road Atlanta. Please visit the Road Atlanta Web site for more information.