A word from ... Chris Reinke

The Head of LMP at Audi Sport about the preparation for the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season.

The WEC will start at Silverstone in two weeks from now. Audi Sport performed a final pre-season test in the Prologue at Le Castellet. How would you sum it up?

During the tests, we consistently executed our planned program. The two Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars completed more than 2,500 kilometers and gathered valuable findings for the final pre-season preparation in the process. All six drivers reeled off their laps and the whole team practiced their operations and pit stops. We were able to gain a few more findings and to prioritize the things that still need to be done before Silverstone.

What distinguished the test in France from the previous tests in Spain and Florida?

At the official FIA WEC Prologue, we met with our competitors for the first time this year. Of course it’s not possible to assess how the relative strengths are going to pan out on the tracks of the WEC calendar just based on a single joint test. Nevertheless, the two days at Le Castellet were very valuable for us. Due to the participation of so many teams in the test the on-track situation resembled the conditions in a race, with heavy traffic, numerous overtaking maneuvers and, for example, a lot of pickup from the tires on the track.

What’s next on the agenda?

On Sunday, the race cars will be returning to Neuburg. On Monday morning, we’re going to start working on the two race cars we’ll be fielding at Silverstone. They’ll be disassembled, serviced and reassembled. We want to finish this job within the space of four days in order to make it possible for the squad to have a free Easter weekend. On Easter Monday, Audi Sport Team Joest will start traveling to Silverstone. Everybody is already looking forward to the season opener.