Motorsport News: Audi celebrates another successful year in racing

Audi developed three race cars for the 2009 season: The €262,000 R8 LMS, the first dedicated Audi ‘customer’ sports car developed for international GT3 motorsport, the R15 TDI, notable as the first “second generation” diesel sports prototype and the R14 “plus” A4 DTM for the German Touring Car Masters (DTM).

Affiliated with AUDI AG’s Technical Development (TE), Audi Sport has approximately 200 employees in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm primarily responsible for race car development and testing.

In its début season, the Audi R8 LMS scored 23 race victories from 76 starts en route to the FIA European GT3 Championship, ADAC-GT Masters and Belgian GT Championship titles. Additionally, the new 525 PS GT3 racing sportscar produced by AUDI AG also scored race wins in the Italian and French GT Championships.

Furthermore the 5.2 litre, V10 mid-engined sportscar successfully passed the ultimate endurance test when all four Audi R8 LMS cars finished in the fastest 24-hour race the Nürburgring has ever seen. An Audi led for almost 17 hours with second place ultimately being achieved (and a GT3 class victory) for the Audi R8 LMS car’s maiden 24-hour run. The R8 LMS also achieved a class win in the Spa 24 Hours.

"Actually, 2009 was planned to be a year of learning for the Audi R8 LMS but our expectations were surpassed by far," said Michael Dick, who as Executive Board Member for Technical Development is also responsible for the motorsport commitment of AUDI AG. "After only one year, the R8 is already a GT3 car to be beaten."

The Audi R8 LMS was developed by Audi Sport in close cooperation with quattro GmbH for “customer” teams in international GT3 motorsport. The R8 LMS is the first thoroughbred “customer” sportscar in the brand’s near 30-year modern motorsport history. Audi Sport will limit the number of “second generation” R8 LMS sportscars it sells. Deliveries commence next March 2010 to “customer” teams at a price of 298,000 euros.

"The interest by customers all over the world is huge," says Oliver Straube, who is responsible for marketing the Audi R8 LMS at Audi Sport. "We could clearly sell more cars in 2010 than we originally planned but we will limit ourselves to a maximum of 15 vehicles in order to be able to offer our customers the type of service they can expect Audi Sport to deliver."

Audi competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time in 1999 and achieved its 11th consecutive podium finish with the R15 TDI - the world’s first “second generation” diesel racing sports car – this season.

The brand has recorded eight victories since its first Le Mans start in 1999, making history with the R8 and R10 TDI models (2000-02, 2004-08). In 2002, the Audi R8 introduced petrol direct injection (TFSI), while four years later, the R10 TDI became the first diesel engined sports car to win Le Mans (2006).

Speed, efficiency and economy are pre-requisites for cars competing in endurance racing, and the R15 TDI proved effective in all three disciplines by not only achieving a podium finish at Le Mans, but also by winning on its début this year at the Sebring 12 Hours (USA).

Additionally the R15 TDI almost entirely led the Petit Le Mans race (USA) – and set the fastest race lap – resulting in the "Michelin GreenX Challenge” – a trophy awarded to the most environmentally friendly car.

Allan McNish was amongst the Audi R15 TDI driver line-up to claim victory at Sebring (March), third place at Le Mans and in the Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta (September). Meanwhile Oliver Jarvis (Cambs) recorded third place on his sportscar début in Japan (October) when he steered his privately run team Kolles Audi R10 TDI – Audi’s “first generation” diesel sportscar now in its fourth season competing against latest technology – to a podium result in the first-ever Asian Le Mans Series race.

Audi became the first manufacturer in the 25-year history of the DTM to win the title for a third consecutive year when Timo Scheider successfully retained the Driver’s “crown” in his A4 DTM.

Four race wins in the most popular international touring car racing series staged in five different European countries brought the Audi A4 DTM victory tally to 25 since 2004. Audi is one of the most successful brands in DTM history, with seven championship titles and 52 race wins to its name.

Whether it be the V8 quattro (DTM Champion in 1990 & ‘91), the TT-R (2002 DTM Champion) from Abt-Audi or the A4 (DTM Champion in 2004, ’07, ’08 & ‘09) – every Audi model that has competed in the DTM has won the prestigious title at least once. The Audi V8 quattro won 19 of its 58 races (32.76%), the Abt-Audi TT-R eight of 46 (17.39%) and the Audi A4 DTM 25 of its so far 62 racess (40.32%). With two DTM titles and 13 wins, Mattias Ekström (Sweden), who recently won the Race of Champions for the third time by beating Michael Schumacher, is the most successful Audi DTM driver.

Before its DTM success, the four-wheel-drive Audi A4 SuperTourer recorded multiple championship titles between 1995-99 in Australia, Belgium, Britain, Germany, Italy, South Africa and Spain plus the FIA Touring Car World Cup. All-wheel-drive has been banned in the DTM since 1993.

Credits: