Audi has taken the lead of the manufacturers’ championship of the European Le Mans Series at the 1000-kilometre race at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium). The two Audi youngsters Alexandre Prémat (26/France) and Mike Rockenfeller (24/Germany) in their Audi R10 TDI finished the third race of the season again in second place, thus going to the "Audi home round” at the Nürburgring on 17 August with the same points score as the Peugeot drivers Marc Gené and Nicolas Minassian.
At its third running in the European Le Mans Series, the Audi R10 TDI starts to the race from the front row of the grid for the first time. In qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), Allan McNish managed to push himself between the two Peugeot 908s. Mike Rockenfeller in the second R10 TDI of Audi Sport Team Joest secured fourth place on the grid despite having been obstructed on his fastest lap.
At the DTM’s Italian round, Audi defended its overall lead. Although scoring no points at Mugello after a jump start, Audi driver Timo Scheider continues heading the leaderboard. Tom Kristensen clinched third place for Audi in an action-packed race. A total of five A4 DTM cars finished in the top eight, and thus in the points.
Audi driver Timo Scheider remains "the man to be beaten” in the DTM: at the third race of the season the German in his GW:plus/Top Service Audi A4 DTM will start from the pole position as well. At Mugello (Italy), Scheider managed a perfect lap at the crucial moment of qualifying, resulting in a gap of over three tenths of a second to the rest of the field.
With a second-place finish at the 1000-kilometre race at Monza (Italy), the two Audi drivers Mike Rockenfeller (24) and Alexandre Prémat (26) took the lead in the drivers’ standings of the European Le Mans Series. Shortly before the end of the turbulent endurance race they were even leading the field with their Audi R10 TDI before being deprived of their chance for victory by a controversial collision.
The two Audi R10 TDI cars fielded by Audi Sport Team Joest will start to the 1000-kilometre race at Monza (Italy) from the second row on Sunday. Local hero Dindo Capello set the third-best time in Saturday’s qualifying. Team-mate Mike Rockenfeller was merely 137 thousandths of a second slower and captured fourth place on the grid.
Second race, second triumph: the new Audi A4 DTM could not be beaten in its second race either. One week after the 1-2-3 exploit at Hockenheim, Timo Scheider and Martin Tomczyk clinched a commanding 1-2 victory for Audi at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. By claiming the maiden victory of his DTM career, Scheider has taken the overall lead as well.
For the seventh time in a row, Audi starts from the pole position in the DTM. As at the Hockenheim season opener a week ago, the new Audi A4 DTM cars fielded by Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline were in a class of their own in qualifying at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. Timo Scheider, Tom Kristensen and Martin Tomczyk clinched grid positions one to three for Audi. Youngster Oliver Jarvis in Audi Sport Team Phoenix’s A4 from last year in fourth position ensured that the first two rows on the grid are firmly in Audi’s hands on Sunday.
With a commanding 1-2-3 victory at the Hockenheim DTM season opener Audi, yet again, underpinned the brand’s slogan "Vorsprung durch Technik", not only on the road but on the circuit. 93,000 spectators (throughout the weekend) witnessed an impressive premiere showing of the new Audi A4 DTM, which outperformed the competition in its racing début, clinching positions one, two, three and five.
Ingolstadt/Hockenheim – Impressive début for the new Audi A4 DTM: Timo Scheider (Germany) and Mattias Ekström (Sweden) set the best lap times by a wide margin in Saturday’s qualifying for the DTM opening race at Hockenheim. This puts two of the new Audi A4 DTM cars on the front row of the grid for the race that is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
In the 25th race of the Audi R10 TDI, the car scored a historic 1-2 victory at the Long Beach (California) round of the American Le Mans Series. After the success at St Petersburg a fortnight ago, the diesel-powered sportscar won a street race for the second time in a row. With Lucas Luhr/Marco Werner taking their personal as well as Audi’s second win in three races in 2008, the German works drivers extended their lead in the championship standings.
Less than 24 hours after its victory in St Petersburg Audi clinched another podium result with its R10 TDI sportscar: the two Audi youngsters Alexandre Prémat (26) and Mike Rockenfeller (24) finished the 1000-kilometre race at Barcelona (Spain), which marked the début of Audi Sport Team Joest in the European Le Mans Series, in second place overall following a flawless drive.
Audi scored the first victory of the Audi R10 TDI in the 2008 American Le Mans Series in a thrilling battle in the second round at St Petersburg (US state of Florida). Lucas Luhr who is partnered with Marco Werner finished with a victory margin of just 0.818s, having re-captured the lead of the race just three laps before the end. It was the 14th outright victory of the diesel-powered sportscar and the first overall win of Lucas Luhr in the series.
In their first running in the European Le Mans Series the two Audi R10 TDI prototypes fielded by Audi Sport Team Joest will start the 1000-kilometre race at Barcelona (Spain) on Sunday from the second and third rows. Quickest Audi driver in Saturday’s qualifying was Allan McNish on position three. Alexandre Prémat, on his 26th birthday, set the sixth-best time.
After a stunning lap in qualifying, the Audi R10 TDI will head into the race at St Petersburg (US state of Florida) from pole position. In Friday’s qualifying session on the street circuit, Marco Werner achieved a lap 0.753s ahead of his closest opponent. Thus the Audi R10 TDI has scored its second consecutive pole position in as many Amercian Le Mans Series races this season.
Even in its third year of racing the Audi R10 TDI still experiences some débuts: on the first weekend in April, the diesel-powered sportscar will compete simultaneously for the first time in two races, in America and in Europe. In St Petersburg (U.S. state of Florida), on Saturday (5 April), the second round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series will be staged. One day later, the European Le Mans Series kicks off with the 1000-kilometre race at Barcelona (Spain).
The Audi R10 TDI remains unbeaten after 22 races. In a turbulent 12-hour race at Sebring (US state of Florida), Audi achieved a 1-2 victory in the LM P1 category with their diesel-powered sports cars. Following eight Sebring victories in a row, however, Audi had to be content with class glory in the American endurance classic for the first time. In the overall classification, the two R10 TDI prototypes finished third and sixth.
In spite of regulations that further penalize the most powerful cars, AUDI AG once again will compete in the American Le Mans Series as a factory team in the 2008 season. Team Audi Sport North America enters two Audi R10 TDI prototypes in all eleven races of the popular sportscar championship. Audi confirmed this prior to the 12 Hours of Sebring (USA), the opening round of the American Le Mans Series.
An Audi R10 TDI will start from the top spot of the starting grid in the 12 Hours of Sebring (US state of Florida) for the third time in a row. Thursday’s qualifying session had to be stopped after a few minutes due to an accident. The starting grid will thus be based on the results of the three free practice sessions. Allan McNish’s fastest time in Thursday morning’s practice secured Audi the pole position.
The Audi drivers are looking forward to the DTM season opener at Hockenheim on 13 April with increasingly eager anticipation: during the first official tests at Mugello, Italy, the nine factory drivers completed their extensive work programme without significant interruption. This first "matching of strengths" with the competition saw them among the front runners in any of the changing weather conditions.
The start to the new DTM season is approaching: since Monday morning all of the drivers from Audi and Mercedes-Benz have been meeting at this year’s first official tests, which provide the teams with their first opportunity to assess where they stand. The event in which champion Mattias Ekström will also pit himself against the most prominent DTM newcomer, Ralf Schumacher, is scheduled to last until Wednesday.
To make a championship winning car even better – the Audi Sport engineers and technicians faced this delicate task when the job of developing the DTM race version of the new Audi A4 arose. From the visual aspect they certainly succeeded: The new A4 DTM, which was publicly unveiled for the first time at the Motor Show in Geneva, spontaneously appears even more dynamic than the successful predecessor model with which Mattias Ekström won the DTM title last year.
AUDI AG once again demonstrated its courage to innovate and pioneering spirit with the vision to build a diesel-powered sportscar capable of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In the meantime the revolutionary Audi R10 TDI has won twice at Le Mans, and remains unbeaten in its class after 21 races.
Audi Sport Team Joest clearly set the pace at the official tests of the Le Mans Series (LMS) at Le Castellet (Southern France). At the end of the first test day both Audi R10 TDI cars had a commanding lead in the sportscar field. The fastest time was set by Allan McNish. The Scot was the only driver on Sunday to break the sound barrier of 1.40 minutes.
Audi Sport engineers and technicians have been working feverishly behind closed doors on the DTM race version of the new Audi A4 for twelve months. Now the time has arrived to present the fruits of their labour to the public for the first time: On Tuesday, 4 March defending champion Mattias Ekström and Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich unveil the new Audi A4 DTM at the Motor Show in Geneva.
Audi prepared its factory drivers from the DTM and sportscar programmes for the 2008 season at the traditional winter camp. The comprehensive winter programme in Ofterschwang, Bavaria, encouraged team "bonding" and the strategic alignment but also included sports activities plus fitness and health regimes. Fun, hard work and excellent team spirit marked the winter camp between 10-17 February 2008, in which the three squad newcomers Oliver Jarvis, Katherine Legge and Markus Winkelhock, also participated.
AUDI AG targets the successful defence of the DTM championship title with an interesting and strong mix of big names and young talented drivers. Oliver Jarvis (GB/24), Katherine Legge (GB/27) and Markus Winkelhock (D/27) have secured the three remaining cockpits within the Audi factory team for which racing drivers from around the world were in contention.
Mattias Ekström has made one of his biggest dreams come true: In the final round of the "Race of Champions" the Audi driver defeated the seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher, triumphing for the second time in a row at the motorsport spectacle that was staged in front of over 50,000 spectators at London’s Wembley Stadium this year. Also part of the action were stars like David Coulthard, Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, Heikki Kovalainen, Sébastien Bourdais, Marcus Grönholm and Petter Solberg.
On the occasion of a visit to Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline the Bavarian minister president Günther Beckstein "outed" himself as a true DTM fan and personally congratulated the squad on the 2007 title win. Beckstein used the opportunity of the 60th anniversary celebration of the juniors’ organization of his party in Kempten for an extensive tour of the motorsport halls in which the Audi A4 DTM cars of champion Mattias Ekström and his team-mates are being prepared, and listened to explanations of the champion car’s technology with keen interest.
AUDI AG makes a clear commitment to motorsport for the 2008 season with the most extensive factory involvement in the company’s history. In addition to defending the DTM title with the new A4 and the entry of three diesel-powered sportscars in the 24 Hour of Le Mans, Audi Sport plans the continuation of its involvement in the American Le Mans Series and its entry in the Le Mans Series in Europe.
In the finale of the American Le Mans Series at Laguna Seca (US state of California), Team Audi Sport North America has once again given impressive proof of the performance of Audi TDI Power. With the Diesel technology which is set to enter the US market for road cars in 2008, Dindo Capello (Italy) and Allan McNish (Scotland) were able to beat the best Porsche in a photo finish. Mike Rockenfeller (Germany) and Marco Werner (Germany) completed Audi’s triumph in the final race of the season with a third place finish.
The Audi drivers are facing a difficult task in the finale of the American Le Mans Series at Laguna Seca (US state of California). As expected the lighter LM P2 sportscars dominated qualifying. Team Audi Sport North America’s two Audi R10 TDI prototypes will start Saturday’s race as fastest LM P1 cars from fifth and seventh positions on the grid.
With an impressive qualifying performance Audi has worked out an optimum starting base for the DTM finale at the Hockenheimring. Tom Kristensen, Timo Scheider, Mattias Ekström and Martin Tomczyk secured grid positions one, two, three and five. This puts all four drivers from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline in front of Bruno Spengler – the only Mercedes driver who might be able to snatch the 2007 DTM title from Audi on Sunday.
The last race of the season in the American Le Mans Series is staged at Laguna Seca (US state of California) one week after the DTM finale at Hockenheim. In contrast to the DTM, the titles in the US Sportscar series have already awarded: Audi won the Manufacturers’, Team and Drivers’ Championships in the LM P1 class for the eighth time in succession.
After the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Le Mans 24 Hours, the Audi R10 TDI has also won the third major endurance race of the year for Le Mans sportscars: At Road Atlanta (US state of Georgia), Dindo Capello (Italy) and Allan McNish (Scotland) won the 1000-mile "Petit Le Mans" race. This means Audi scored outright victories with the revolutionary diesel sportscar at Sebring, Le Mans and Road Atlanta for a second consecutive time.
The Audi R10 TDI has written another piece of motorsport history: In qualifying for the "Petit Le Mans" race at Road Atlanta (US state of Georgia), Marco Werner drove a record-lap with the 650-hp diesel-powered sportscar. The German beat Allan McNish’s track record from the 2000 season by almost 1.5 seconds.
The points’ situation going into the DTM finale on 14 October at Hockenheim could hardly be closer: With Mattias Ekström (Audi/44 points), Bruno Spengler (Mercedes/42 points) and Martin Tomczyk (Audi/40 points), three drivers are still fighting for the title in the most popular international touring car series – this has not been the case since the DTM made its comeback in the year 2000.
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