Posts Tagged ‘R15 Diesel’

AUDI R15 TDI BRITISH RACE DEBUT

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.

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Posted in TDI Owners

Audi R15 Wins On Debut

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

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Posted in Diesel News, TDI Owners, VAG Topics

PROGRESSIVE DESIGN FOR THE AUDI R15 TDI


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.

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Posted in Diesel Tuning, TDI Owners

Audi opts for new prototype racing series

Audi TDI

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.”

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Posted in TDI Owners