Posts Tagged ‘Diesel Racing’
 Audi R15 TDI Diesel Le Mans Car Latest Audi sports prototype makes its UK race debut in Autosport 1000km at Silverstone next month
Annual Silverstone race is Le Mans Series finale and also opening race in Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, which in its first year also takes in the 1,000-mile ‘Petit Le Mans’ race at Road Atlanta, USA and the six-hour race in Zhuhai, China
The Le Mans-conquering Audi R15 TDI sports prototype is bound for Silverstone, where on Sunday September 12th it will again be caught up in yet more enthralling skirmishes in the battle for the new Intercontinental Le Mans Cup.
The ultimate Audi race car, known internally as the R15 TDI ‘plus’, is based on the original 2009 R15 TDI, but features extensive modifications to aerodynamics and to the potent V10 diesel engine made last winter to comply with new regulations. The pedigree of these thoroughbreds includes the celebrated R8, described by Autosport magazine recently as ‘the best ever sports prototype’, and the V12 TDI-powered Audi R10 TDI that made history in 2006 by becoming the first sportscar to win the Le Mans 24-hour marathon under diesel power.
In its revised form, enhanced by newly developed turbo chargers with variable turbine geometry (VTG), the latest 5.5-litre, ten cylinder diesel unit powered the Audi R15 TDI into the top-three places in this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, the brand’s ninth victory in arguably the world’s toughest motor race.
In the process, the winning R15 TDI racked up a total of 397 laps, or 3,361 miles, at an average speed of 139.95mph, setting new race distance and race average speed records in the process. Over the 24-hour period it was at idle in the pits for just 20 minutes, bearing testament to the impressive reliability and fuel efficiency that characterises all competition and road-going Audi TDI models, the latter accounting for 71% of the 91,172 UK Audi sales posted in 2009.
Silverstone beckons
On the second Sunday in September the mettle of the R15 TDI will again be tested to extremes at Silverstone when two examples entered by Audi Sport Team Joest face formidable challenges from Peugeot and Aston Martin. At the wheel of the two Audi entries will be the familiar faces of Timo Bernhard, Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Scotland’s Allan McNish.
The Silverstone race is not only the fifth and final round of the Le Mans Series but also the opening race for the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup which moves on to North America for the 1,000-mile Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta, and then to Zhuhai in China for another six-hour marathon. From 2011, the ILMC series will become even more intense with a planned roster of seven endurance races in America, Asia and Europe.
The Silverstone action gets under way with qualifying at 1.40pm on Saturday September 11th, with the 170-lap race, staged on the new Grand Prix circuit, scheduled to start at 11.55am on Sunday the 12th.
Tags: Diesel Le Mans, diesel r15, Diesel Racing, R15 Diesel, r15 silverstone, R15 TDI, TDI Audi
Posted in TDI Owners
Just over a month ago, Peugeot unveiled its new corporate identity which encapsulates high standards and excitement, two qualities that are especially applicable to Motor Sport.
Like Peugeot, Peugeot Sport is on the offensive. As it prepares for the future by building on its recent successes, not only does Peugeot Sport serve as a shop window for the Brand, both technologically and in terms of image, but it also mirrors the Marque’s new corporate identity, which puts Motion and Emotion at the heart of its strategy.
2009 was a highly successful year in motor sport terms: topping the bill was a one-two finish in the Le Mans 24 Hours, a clean sweep of the podium places for the 207 Super 2000 in the Rallye Monte-Carlo, as well as third consecutive Manufacturers’ and Drivers’ titles in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, thanks to the efforts of several Peugeot subsidiaries, and led by Peugeot UK’s Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle, who won the Drivers’ title in their first year of competing. All this is the result of the spirit of all the Peugeot competitors; a spirit which will continue in 2010 in the hunt for further success and excitement.
Riding high on the back of last year’s Le Mans one-two finish, Peugeot Sport is aiming to do it again in 2010. In the fourth and final year of the 908 HDi FAP’s career, Team Peugeot Total has pressed on with its development, getting down to work on the very next day after that historic win, striving to squeeze even more improvements out of the car.
Test sessions and races at a variety of venues have been programmed in order to be as well prepared as possible for the 78th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours, a race which always throws up unique challenges, uncertainties and changes of fortune, all part of its legendary status. But even the most meticulous preparations cannot hope to reproduce the specific features and surprises this race invariably delivers. Since its historic success on June 14, 2009, Peugeot will have racked up a total of eleven test sessions consisting of endurance runs, set-up work and two demanding warm-ups in the form of two actual races.
Eleven drivers have been chosen to fly the Peugeot flag in 2010, running with race numbers 1, 2 and 3, the numbers which were previously the property of the Marque’s much respected rival. The 2009 winners will carry the Number 1 plate: Marc GENE (ESP,) Alexander WURZ (AUT), plus a newcomer to the Peugeot Sport ranks, Anthony DAVIDSON (GBR). Marc and Alexander will be tackling their fourth Le Mans, the Austrian having won twice, in 1996 and 2009. Anthony has contested the French race twice (2002 and 2009) and tested the 908 in a session at Le Castellet at the end of 2008.
In the N°2 908 HDi FAP, three French drivers Nicolas MINASSIAN, Franck MONTAGNY and Stéphane SARRAZIN, form the trio that previously raced together for Oreca in 2002 and again in a memorable race last November at Le Mans, in the 207 Relais relay race which formed part of the season’s final Rencontres Peugeot Sport meeting. It’s worth noting that Stéphane has taken pole position for the last three years at Le Mans in the 908 HDi FAP.
The third crew is made up of local boy Sébastien BOURDAIS, who renews his partnership with his United States-based countryman Simon PAGENAUD and Portugal’s Pedro LAMY. Sébastien and Pedro had also been Le Mans team-mates back in 2007, at the wheel of the N°8 Peugeot.
Christian KLIEN will be the reserve driver for Team Peugeot Total, while Gregory GUILVERT, having impressed at a test in the 908 (his prize for winning the 2009 THP Spider Cup), takes on the role of test driver.
On the racing front, Peugeot’s first test comes in the shape of the full-on challenge of dealing with 12 hours of racing against the heat and difficult track at Sebring (Florida, USA), which provides the backdrop for the year’s first appearance of the two Peugeot 908 HDi FAPs, shared by
Davidson/Gene/Wurz (N°07) and Bourdais/Lamy/Minassian (N°08). The French squad will first tackle a test session the previous weekend and then resume testing two days after the endurance race. The second event is at Spa-Francorchamps in a round of the Le Mans Series and this will serve as a dress rehearsal for the whole Peugeot Sport team, with three cars entered. Eleven test sessions and two races should enable the team to prepare thoroughly for the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Peugeot Sport is also working on life after Le Mans and, at the moment, there are two further races on the calendar for the 908 HDi FAP: the Le Mans Series round at Silverstone, in September, then – assuming it is confirmed by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest – the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup race in Shanghai. For Peugeot Sport, the second half of the year is also the time to look to the future, specifically the immediate future and the new 2011 regulations, which signal the start of a new era for endurance racing. Some of the new rules have already been announced, which means work can now begin on a new car.
Tags: 908 hdi, Diesel Racing, peugeot 908
Posted in Diesel Tuning, HDi Topics
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.
Tags: Audi Le Mans, audi r10, Audi R15, audi racing drivers, Diesel Racing
Posted in Diesel News, Diesel Owners Club, Diesel Tuning, TDI Owners, VAG Topics
Two Audi R15 TDI cars in the new “Le Mans Intercontinental Cup”
Three prototypes in the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours
Clear commitment to the DTM – customer sport with the Audi R8 LMS
Ingolstadt, December 8, 2009 – In 2010, the DTM, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the customer sport program with the Audi R8 LMS will again be the three cornerstones of AUDI AG’s motorsport commitment. By participating in the inaugural “Le Mans Intercontinental Cup” Audi has opted for a new, forward-thinking racing series in which alternative drive concepts will be used.
“In 2009, the Audi brand has been celebrating its 100th anniversary and our motorsport squad presented the brand with a particularly nice birthday gift, the successful title defense in the DTM,” says Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Management Board of AUDI AG. “Audi Sport has been a guarantor of successes in motorsport for as many as 30 years now – successes which are of major importance to the development of the Audi brand.”
In the 2010 season, Audi will again rely on motorsport categories that are very closely related to production vehicles: the DTM with the top-selling Audi A4, customer sport with the immediately successful Audi R8 LMS, and the sports prototypes with the Audi R15 TDI that has primarily been subjected to further aerodynamic development and bears the internal model designation “R15 plus” at Audi Sport.
The prototype commitment is of particular importance to Audi because this category makes it possible to field alternative power-train concepts and technologies. “In 2001, at Le Mans, we used a TFSI engine for the first time that has since become standard in production vehicles,” comments Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “In 2006, we were the first automobile manufacturer in history to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a diesel-powered vehicle. And in the future we will use our LMP1 cars to test pioneering technologies and to underscore our ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ claim also on the race track. Therefore, we welcome greatly the fact that the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) has announced the first international racing series for LMP1 vehicles. We are convinced that this motorsport category, which is particularly attractive from the perspective of technology, has prospects for a great future and fits our times well.”
Inaugural Le Mans Intercontinental Cup
In the future, the so-called “Le Mans Intercontinental Cup” will consist of the major races of the Le Mans Series in Europe, the USA and Asia and aims to continue the heyday of the legendary World Championship for Makes. In its debut year in 2010, the 1000-kilometer race at Silverstone (Great Britain), the “Petit Le Mans” race at Road Atlanta (USA) and an event on the Asian continent. Further races are to be added in 2011.
Audi will contest the new Le Mans Intercontinental Cup in the 2010 season with two R15 TDI cars fielded by Audi Sport Team Joest. Three cars are planned for the 24-hour race at Le Mans on June 12/13. Audi Sport Team Joest plans also to contest the 1000-kilometer race at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), which Audi would like to use as a dress rehearsal for Le Mans, with three cars.
Clear commitment to the DTM
By that time, the Audi DTM squad will have already contested the first two races. The most popular international touring car racing series will continue to be one of the cornerstones of AUDI AG’s motorsport commitment. After the technology for the 2010 season has been frozen by the regulations and the 2009 championship winning car will therefore start from the grid almost unchanged. Meanwhile work on the A4 successor vehicle has already begun at Audi Sport in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm for the new Technical Regulations that will come into effect in 2011 with the aim of achieving further cost reductions.
For the 2010 season, Audi has opted for continuity in the DTM: Up to nine vehicles will be fielded by the proven Audi Sport teams of ABT Sportsline, Phoenix and Rosberg. The major change: The cockpit of Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen, who will fully focus on sports car racing in the future, will be taken over by the young Briton Oliver Jarvis (25).
“We are thus giving our youngest ‘factory’ driver the chance to prove his prowess in a current DTM car,” comments Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “The performances Oliver has shown in his first DTM years at the wheel of a year-old A4 speak in his favor.”
All other personnel decisions – for the sports prototypes as well as in the DTM – will be made in the next few weeks. “We want to position ourselves as best we can for the DTM and the 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as the Le Mans Cup in terms of our drivers’ line-up and are therefore deliberately taking our time,” stresses Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich.
Extended customer program with the Audi R8 LMS
The new GT3 sports car from AUDI AG, which scored 23 victories and three champion’s titles in its first racing season, will be delivered to customer teams starting at the end of March 2010 at a price of 298,000 euros (plus VAT). To ensure its ability to deliver optimal service, Audi Sport will limit sales to a maximum of 20 vehicles for the European market in 2010.
Audi will again support its customer teams at the Nürburgring 24 Hours on May 15/16. Two Audi R8 LMS cars will get special support from Audi.
“With the DTM, the sports prototypes and the R8 LMS, we are well positioned in motorsport,” says Michael Dick who, as management board member for Technical Development, is also responsible for AUDI AG’s motorsport commitment. “In these three categories the cost-benefit calculation in particular, which is of great importance in times like these, is appropriate.”
Tags: Audi Diesel, Audi TDI, Diesel Racing, Diesel Tuning, R15, R15 Diesel
Posted in TDI Owners
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