Allan McNish scored a magnificent début victory for Audi with its latest diesel-engined sportscar in the opening round of the Le Mans Series at Paul Ricard in France today (Sunday 11 Apr).

McNish started his new Audi R15 TDI “Plus” from the front row of the 40-car grid after co-driver Dindo Capello had set the second fastest qualifying time the previous day but stormed in to the lead on the third lap.

By mid-distance in the eight-hour race the 40-year-old Scotsman, back behind the wheel after a solid stint by Capello, had extended the lead to a two-lap advantage over the second-placed Aston Martin around the fast, sweeping 3.6-mile track.

Having taken the lead after four minutes, the McNish/Capello “factory” Audi was never headed again at the former French Grand Prix circuit– their 5.5-litre twin-turbo diesel engined Audi eventually finishing five-laps, 18-miles ahead of the second-placed Aston Martin having completed 957-miles at an average speed of 119.49mph in a completely trouble-free run.

Capello set the race’s fastest lap (1m 42.541s, 126.33mph) with 90mins remaining. The pole-position starting factory-assisted Oreca Peugeot lost 18mins in the pits with a problem in the opening hour and finished fourth – eight-laps behind the victorious Audi.

“It’s fantastic to give the new R15 ‘Plus’ its first victory in its first race which follows the Audi tradition of début race wins like we achieved with the R8, R10 TDI and R15 TDI – even if this one is a little unexpected – and not many manufacturers can claim this honour,” commented an elated McNish.

“It’s been a perfect race because we got the victory and also it was a perfect test for the engineers going towards Le Mans.”

Just 37 days after the “roll-out” of the R15 “Plus”, the Paul Ricard race at Le Castellet was a “test” under race conditions marking the next phase of its development programme. After aerodynamic tests at Homestead (Florida), a multi-day endurance test at Sebring (Florida) and tyre tests at Monza (Italy), Audi Sport Team Joest used the Ricard LMS race to begin the detailed race-setup work on the updated LMP1 sports-prototype.

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “It is impressive that Audi Sport has developed a prototype for a fourth consecutive time which was able to win its début race: after the R8, the R10 and the R15 now the R15 plus. Of course we are very happy that the R15 plus has won the Le Castellet 8 Hours in its test entry.

“But even more important is the fact that the car is already very fast and reliable. We did not have the slightest technical problem here and without the rain shower in the end we would have completed the whole distance without any unscheduled pit-stop. This success is a small milestone on the way to Le Mans and a first reward for the hard work of the previous weeks and months. But we know very well that there is still plenty of work to do until Le Mans.”

Dumfries-born McNish and the Audi team continue its Le Mans 24 Hour race (12-13 Jun) preparations with a full three-car “dress rehearsal” in a 1,000km race at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), the second round of the LMS on 9 May.

Tom Kristensen partners McNish and Capello at Le Mans. The Dane tore the heel tendon in his left leg in January and decided to concentrate on his forthcoming testing commitments rather than contest the Ricard race.

Audi Sport Team Joest wins Le Mans Series opener
Clear victory for Dindo Capello and Allan McNish
Important findings for the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Ingolstadt/Le Castellet, 11 April 2010 – The Audi R15 TDI, model year 2010 (internally labelled “R15 plus”) has won its race début at Le Castellet (France) and in doing so left a strong impression.

The technically further developed diesel racing sports car ran the entire distance without the smallest problem during the test race. On the opening lap of the 8-hour race Allan McNish overtook the Peugeot which had started from pole position in the hands of Frenchman Stéphane Sarrazin and on the third lap the Lola-Aston Martin of Stefan Mücke. From then on Allan McNish and teammate Dindo Capello did not relinquish the lead. At the chequered flag after 266 laps the two Audi drivers held a five-lap lead from the Lola-Aston Martin of defending champion Stefan Mücke, Harold Primat and Adrian Fernandez. The Oreca team Peugeot finished fourth after succumbing to a technical problem during the opening stages of the race.

The only unscheduled pit stop was made just seven minutes before the end of the race, when Audi Sport Team Joest switched to rain tires for safety reasons as rain began to fall.

Audi Sport Team Joest used the Le Mans Series 2010 season opener as preparation for the 24-hour race at Le Mans on 12/13 June. In the practice sessions on Friday and Saturday as well as Sunday morning’s warm-up the team compared different set-up configurations before selecting a version which allowed Dindo Capello and Allan McNish to record constantly fast laps in the relatively low temperatures. The Audi R15 TDI was almost always the fastest car in the field throughout the eight hours and also set the fastest race lap.

Audi Sport Team Joest gained important knowledge for Le Mans during the victorious race at Le Castellet, which will now be evaluated by Audi Sport in Ingolstadt and which go into further fine tuning of the R15 plus.

Next on the agenda is a 30-hour test and the Le Mans dress rehearsal at the 1000-kilomtere race at Spa-Francorchamps on 9 May, which Audi Sport Team Joest will contest, exactly like Le Mans, with three Audi R15 TDI.

Quotes after the race

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “It is impressive that Audi Sport has developed a prototype for a fourth consecutive time which was able to win its début race: after the R8, the R10 and the R15 now the R15 plus. Of course we are very happy that the R15 plus has won the Le Castellet 8 Hours in its test entry. But even more important is the fact that the car is already very fast and reliable. We did not have the slightest technical problem here and without the rain shower in the end we would have completed the whole distance without any unscheduled pit-stop. This success is a small milestone on the way to Le Mans and a first reward for the hard work of the previous weeks and months. But we know very well that there is still plenty of work to do until Le Mans.”

Dindo Capello (Audi R15 TDI #7): “For sure it is nice to be back on the highest step of the podium – especially at the début of a new car. What makes me happy is that the changes we have done with the car – even the ones after the warm-up – worked quite well. Our next task is to make the R15 plus more consistent.”

Allan McNish (Audi R15 TDI #7): “We have achieved three things: First of all we gave the R15 plus its début victory. This continues a tradition for Audi’s début wins of new LMP1 cars. We won the race, which for the team and the drivers was very important especially after our difficulties last year. And for the engineers and the drivers it was very good experience for Le Mans. I think we ticked all the boxes and achieved our goals for this one.”

Ralf Jüttner (Technical Director Audi Sport Team Joest): “This was a good race for us. After the Oreca-Peugeot had problems so early in the race, the pressure was missing a little bit. But we just tried to continue to go flat out. We did this for eight hours without any problems. But we’ve seen this weekend as well that we still have to learn a lot with the car – and this was the purpose of this test race. We’ve already completed a lot of kilometres with the R15 plus, but these have all been endurance tests. We just started to play with the car here at Le Castellet and this weekend has given us a lot of knowledge and a big step forward. Thanks to the team which has done a great job. This is a superb result we can build on.”

Race results

1 Capello/McNish (Audi R15 TDI) 266 laps in 8h 00m 36.415s
2 Primat/Mücke/Fernandez (Lola-Aston Martin) – 5 laps
3 Belicchi/Boullion/Smith (Lola-Rebellion) – 5 laps
4 Panis/Lapierre/Sarrazin (Peugeot) – 8 laps
5 Ayari/Andre/Duval (Oreca-AIM) – 8 laps
6 Ragues/Mailleux/Ickx (Lola-Aston Martin) – 10 laps
7 Leventis/Watts/Kane (Acura/Honda) – 16 laps
8 Moreau/Gulliaume/Hein (Pescarolo-Judd) – 16 laps
9 Erdos/Newton/Wallace (Lola-Honda) – 17 laps
10 Lahaye/Nicolet (Pescarolo-Judd) – 17 laps

Diesel race sports car with a fresh outfit
Audi design team demonstrates “pleasure in efficiency”
Test in racing conditions at Le Castellet
Ingolstadt, April 5, 2010 – Audi wants to surprise the spectators at this year’s 24-hour race at Le Mans (France) with a progressive design: the Audi Design Team created a fresh outfit for the innovative diesel race sports car that bears all the hallmarks of “pleasure in efficiency”.

Whereas silver was the dominant colour of the Audi R15 TDI last year, the 2010 model boasts a radical new design that features more red. In addition, large areas of the Le Mans race sports car that is internally designated as “R15 plus” will be kept in a purist black carbon-fibre look.

“We’re happy that we were allowed to give the car such a progressive look,” say Markus Auerbach and Tobias Drews from the Audi Design Team. “We wanted to add a dash of surprise when the Audi leaves the pits at Le Mans. We practically opened up the bodywork and are exposing the light-weight construction and its uncompromising technical development – and with a little rock ’n’ roll for good measure.”

The Audi R15 TDI sporting its new design will make its debut at the Le Castellet 8 Hours on April 11. Audi Sport Team Joest will contest the 2010 season opener of the Le Mans Series in preparation for the Le Mans (France) 24 Hours on June 12/13. Another test race is planned at the 1000-kilometre race at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium).

“The race at Le Castellet comes at a very early point in time for us and is nothing but a test in racing conditions,” stresses Ralf Jüttner, Technical Director of Audi Sport Team Joest. “Even though it’s a difficult logistical undertaking, we wanted to gather experiences with the R15 plus at a race as early as possible. Le Castellet offers the opportunity to do this.”

The 2010 version of the Audi R15 TDI completed a roll-out at the Audi test track in Neustadt at the beginning of March. The prototype was subsequently flown to the USA for initial tests which primarily featured aerodynamics trials. A five-day endurance test followed at Sebring (Florida) at which about 5 500 kilometres were reeled off without any technical problems worth mentioning.

In Europe, the final set-up work with a view toward Le Mans is on the agenda. Further track tests will now be followed by the first run in a race at which the result will be of secondary importance for Audi though. “Le Castellet will strictly be about gathering additional experience with the R15 plus,” emphasizes Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Racing conditions simply can’t be simulated in normal track tests; that’s why we’re contesting a race at such an early stage.”

It is planned to field the R15 plus with chassis number 202. Audi Sport Team Joest has nominated Dindo Capello (Italy), Tom Kristensen (Denmark) and Allan McNish (Scotland) as drivers. “However, we will only decide whether all three drivers will actually race at short notice,” says Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich.

Since Audi has performed several endurance tests for the Le Mans 24 Hours at Le Castellet in recent years, the team and drivers are intimately familiar with the circuit in southern France.

Audi, by the way, has very good memories of its most recent racing commitment at Le Castellet: in 1995, Frank Biela won the Touring Car World Cup there in the Audi A4 quattro against strong rivals.

Racing debut of latest specification Audi R15 TDI brought forward
Participation in 8-hour race at Le Castellet (France)
Total of three starts in 2010 Le Mans Series
Ingolstadt, February 2, 2010 – To further prepare for the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans, Audi Sport is planning an additional racing commitment with the Audi R15 TDI that has undergone additional development. For April 11, the participation in the 8-hour race at Le Castellet in southern France is planned for testing purposes.

Originally, the diesel racing sports car that is internally designated as “R15 plus” was to make its racing debut at the 1000-kilometer race at Spa-Francorchamps. The Belgian endurance classic continues to be on Audi Sport Team Joest’s race schedule as the final dress rehearsal for Le Mans. However, to complement these plans, Audi Sport also wants to use the season opener of the 2010 Le Mans Series (LMS) on the high-speed circuit at Le Castellet to test the “R15 plus” in racing conditions.

“We’re on schedule with the additional developments we’re making on the R15 TDI and so this race should be possible,” says Head of Audi-Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Le Castellet is a race track that lends itself pretty well to testing for Le Mans, and we’ve frequently used this circuit for our Le Mans preparation. The 8-hour race distance makes the race of further interest to us.”

Purely for logistical reasons, Audi Sport Team Joest has registered for the 2010 Le Mans Series. “But this should not at all be interpreted to mean that we will be contesting all five LMS races,” said Dr. Ullrich. “At the moment, we are only planning to race at Le Castellet, Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone.”

The 1000-kilometer race at Silverstone (Great Britain) on September 12 will mark the finale of the 2010 Le Mans Series and simultaneously kicks off the Le Mans Intercontinental Cup, which Audi Sport Team Joest will tackle with two R15 TDI cars.

Audi extends driver line-up for the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Treluyer new to the team
Joint test run in the 1000-kilometer race at Spa
Ingolstadt, January 28, 2010 – Audi Sport leaves nothing to chance in its endeavour to bring the prestigious Le Mans trophy back to Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. Not only the technology of the Audi R15 TDI is being subjected to further development. The drivers’ line-up for the 24 Hours of Le Mans (France) has been extended as well.

For the world’s most famous endurance race, Audi has signed three new drivers, the Swiss Marcel Fässler (33), German André Lotterer (28) and Frenchman Benoît Treluyer (33), who will be sharing the cockpit of one of three Audi R15 TDI cars on June 12/13, 2010.

“In view of our strong competitors, we want to – and have to – be perfectly positioned in terms of drivers too,” explained Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Therefore, we decided to extend our driver line-up. Marcel, André and Benoît attracted our attention during the past two years in a particularly positive way. They are used to handling fast prototypes and know each other extremely well. The three of them, and we too, are convinced that they are a very good combination for Le Mans.”

The new Audi drivers already have experience at the wheel of diesel racing sports cars. Marcel Fässler successfully contested two races in the American Le Mans Series for Audi in 2008. André Lotterer impressed at Le Mans last year at the wheel of an Audi R10 TDI of the private Audi customer team Kolles. Benoît Treluyer competed in the 24-hour classic in a Peugeot in 2009.

Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Treluyer have already visited Audi Sport in Ingolstadt for seat-fittings and will soon be testing the Audi R15 TDI. The first racing commitment for the new Audi driver trio is planned for May 9, in the 1000-kilometer race at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), which will serve as a dress rehearsal for the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Audi Sport Team Joest.

“For the time being, plans for Marcel, André and Benoît are fully focused on Le Mans 2010,” says Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “But all three of them are still relatively young, and therefore, may also become part of our sports car project over the long term.”

Audi has been contesting the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 1999 and having made 11 starts, has won the race as many as eight times. In addition to speed, reliability and efficiency are the key factors of success in the world’s most famous endurance race.

Furthermore, the LMP1 class is unrivalled by any other motorsport category in terms of offering the opportunity to test technical innovations in racing conditions. Thanks to its technology leadership, Audi has repeatedly set milestones in this regard. The Audi R8, for instance, successfully introduced TFSI gasoline direct injection technology in 2001, while in 2006 the Audi R10 TDI was the first diesel-powered vehicle to clinch victory in the history of the race.

Britain’s Allan McNish (pictured) came tantalisingly close to achieving his fifth Petit Le Mans race victory at Road Atlanta on Saturday (26 Sep) and maintaining Audi’s 100% winning record in the annual American sportscar endurance race since the German manufacturer’s debut in 2000.

The Dumfries-born double Le Mans 24 Hour race winner and Italian co-driver Dindo Capello led for the opening 4hrs before the Scotsman suffered two spins and dropped to third place on the treacherously wet and slippery track in Georgia – moments before the race went in to a Safety Car period and was ultimately stopped with almost five hours run.

After a further delay of almost four hours and near constant heavy rain, organisers decided not to re-start the event which in any case was limited to 10 hours or 1,000-miles, leaving the McNish/Capello diesel-engined Audi R15 TDI classified third, a mere 3.465secs behind the winning Peugeot (Franck Montagny/Stephane Sarrazin).

“It was a disappointing way for the race to end, it was the correct decision due to the adverse track conditions but I feel robbed and frustrated,” reflected McNish who set the race’s fastest lap.

“I made a good start in the wet and the car adapted well to the drying conditions. I had been very close to putting the second-placed Peugeot a lap down but a Safety Car period nullified that opportunity for us.

“Dindo then led throughout his stint before I took over again. I was leading but spun down to third on a greasy track after light rain during another Safety Car period when my slick tyres became cold running at slow speed and lost their grip.

“I pitted soon afterwards for wet tyres as the rain intensified but then aquaplaned out of second place and down to third again. The rain was torrential and far too dangerous to continue. My Audi was floating on the track as opposed to driving on it which was all but flooded and the organisers made the correct decision, if not five laps late, as there would have been no cars left on the track in those conditions.”

The McNish/Capello Audi had started from third place on the 27-car grid but McNish swept in to the lead on the opening lap. The “sister” R15 TDI of Lucas Luhr/Marco Werner began from fourth place, a position the German duo were classified in, one lap down on the top-three, when the race was declared over. Meanwhile the McNish/Capello Audi won the efficiency award “Michelin GreenX Challenge” – a trophy awarded to the most environmentally friendly car.

Audi unexpectedly contested a third race of the year to collect further race information about its new sports-prototype in preparation for the Le Mans 24 Hours next June.

Allan concluded: “Despite the race being cut short, we’ve learned a lot and gathered valuable race data which we will be very helpful for next year – and that was our ultimate aim for coming here.”

Allan McNish “Petit Le Mans” Formguide (4 wins from 7 starts):
1998 (Porsche 911 GT1): Qualified – 1st (AM). Race – Retired
1999 (Porsche 911 GT1 EVO): Qualified – 15th. Race – 7th
2000 (Audi R8): Qualified – 1st (AM). Race – 1st + AM fastest lap (1:11.782, 127.386mph)
2006 (Audi R10 TDI): Qualified – 2nd (AM). Race – 1st
2007 (Audi R10 TDI): Qualified – 3rd. Race – 1st + AM fastest lap (1:09.195, 132.148mph)
2008 (Audi R10 TDI): Qualified – 2nd (AM). Race – 1st
2009 (Audi R15 TDI): Qualified – 3rd. Race – 3rd + AM fastest lap (1:08.063secs, 134.346mph)

Audi “Petit Le Mans” Formguide (9 wins from 10 starts):
2000 (Audi R8): 1st (Allan McNish/Dindo Capello/Michele Alboreto)
2001 (Audi R8): 1st (Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro)
2002 (Audi R8): 1st (Dindo Capello/Tom Kristensen)
2003 (Audi R8): 1st (Johnny Herbert/JJ Lehto)
2004 (Audi R8): 1st (JJ Lehto/Marco Werner)
2005 (Audi R8): 1st (Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro)
2006 (Audi R10 TDI): 1st (Allan McNish/Dindo Capello)
2007 (Audi R10 TDI): 1st (Allan McNish/Dindo Capello)
2008 (Audi R10 TDI): 1st (Allan McNish/Dindo Capello/Emanuele Pirro)

Accidents and night shifts for Audi Sport Team Joest
Focus on race set-up
Uncertain race day weather forecast
Ingolstadt/Atlanta – Audi Sport Team Joest’s two Audi R15 TDI prototypes will start the “Petit Le Mans” 1000-mile race at Road Atlanta (U.S. state of Georgia) from the second row of the grid. The U.S. endurance classic serves Audi as preparation for the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Best Audi driver in Friday’s 25-minute qualifying session was Dindo Capello (Italy) who set the third fastest time with the #2 Audi R15 TDI in 1m 08.200s. Teammate Lucas Luhr (Germany) was just 28 thousands of a second behind with the #1 “sister” car.

During the three practice days, the Audi team focused entirely on the race set-up of the technically innovative Audi R15 TDI which competes only in its third ever race at Road Atlanta. The effort was complicated by the external conditions: After torrential rain falls, the challenging track had little grip on the first day on Wednesday. High temperatures of almost 85 degrees Fahrenheit and extremely high humidity added to this.

Principally harmless minor off-road excursions from Lucas Luhr on Wednesday and Marco Werner on Thursday gave the mechanics two night shifts. The two Germans each slid slightly off the race track. The rain of the previous days, however, had washed out the grass and the deep holes were responsible for significant damage to their R15 TDI. As a consequence the team had to change the monocoque of the number “1″ car during the night from Wednesday to Thursday. At 4:30 a.m., the rebuilt car was ready and back on its wheels.

Heavy rain showers are predicted for Saturdays race at Road Atlanta (starting at 11:20 a.m. local time) which should make this challenging race even more difficult.

Audi competes in the “Petit Le Mans” event since 2000 and is undefeated in this 1000-mile race. In the last three years, Dindo Capello and Allan McNish took the victory with the R15-predecessor the Audi R10 TDI. Capello and McNish are teamed up again. Lucas Luhr shares the “sister” car with Marco Werner.

Quotes after qualifying

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “It was a difficult start for us with the accidents on the first two days. This caused a lot of work. Today we were at least able to find a good race set-up for both cars. Our main problem right now is the traction, which means we are fighting with spinning rear wheels. This cost us a lot of time out of the slower corners during qualifying with the higher track temperatures.”

Ralf Jüttner (Technical Director Audi Sport Team Joest): “It took us quite some time to set-up the car for this track. You just see that we are lacking race experience with the R15 TDI. The positive thing is that we have contented drivers in both cars now. We did not unpack our sharpest weapon for qualifying which was not our target, but I believe we are well prepared for the race. I’m expecting a fierce battle with many caution periods. The big question mark in the background is the weather. There are forecasts with torrential rain. I’m curious as to what to expect. I would like to thank the whole crew who have worked so hard after the accidents.”

Dindo Capello (Audi R15 TDI #2): “Qualifying was a little disappointing in terms of the time difference to pole-position. The track temperature was high during qualifying which caused understeer and loss of traction which cost me time. Allan and I really liked the car this morning in the final practice. The weather forecast for the race isn’t good but fortunately we had a run here in wet conditions last Sunday.”

Allan McNish (Audi R15 TDI #2): “It’s going to be a big fight tomorrow. The weather forecast is for rain during the race which will be another aspect and to some extent cancel out what has been learnt over the past few days. Peugeot have an advantage in one-lap qualifying trim but we [Audi] showed earlier today in practice that we can match their pace in race set-up. It’s going to be an interesting race.”

Lucas Luhr (Audi R15 TDI #1): “Unfortunately the practice days have been quite turbulent for us. We have to analyze why our competitor is quicker. Dindo (Capello) and I pressed everything out of the car in qualifying which is possible at the moment. But I believe we have a very good racecar right now. We’ll drive to keep up with them in the race. In the past it has been often the case that Peugeot was much quicker in qualifying than in the race. I hope this will be also the case tomorrow.”

Marco Werner (Audi R15 TDI #1): “We are here to learn – and we’ve already learned a lot over the past few days. It’s something different to drive under race conditions instead of testing. I think this week gave a big push to the whole team. I expected the times to be like they are. The gap to Peugeot is a little bit too big. We have to see how things will develop during the race. It was always a big strength of Audi to be very good in the race while our competitors normally made a step backwards compared to qualifying.”

The starting grid

1 Minassian/Lamy (Peugeot) 1m 06.937s
2 Sarrazin/Montagny (Peugeot) 1m 07.160s
3 Capello/McNish (Audi R15 TDI) 1m 08.200s
4 Luhr/Werner (Audi R15 TDI) 1m 08.228s
5 de Ferran/Pagenaud/Dixon (Acura/Honda) 1m 08.348s
6 Panis/Lapierre/Dumas (Oreca-AIM) 1m 09.566s
7 Field/Field (Lola-AER) 1m 09.685s
8 Leitzinger/Franchitti/Devlin (Lola-Mazda) 1m 10.152s
9 Drayson/Cocker/Bell (Lola-Judd) 1m 10.552s
10 Pickett/Graf/Maassen (Porsche) 1m 11.405s