Facts on the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2009

Audi debuted at Le Mans in 1999. In 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 the brand celebrated eight victories. In 1999, 2003 and 2009 Audi achieved third place, respectively. Since 1999, Audi drivers have clinched a total of 20 out of 33 possible podium positions at Le Mans.

With a track record of eight victories, Audi is ranking in third place of the all-time winners’ list of the endurance classic that has been held since 1923, just one win behind Ferrari. 23 brands have won the famous event to date.

When Audi took third place in 2009, this marked the end of the so far longest unbroken string of victories by a group of automobile brands at the 24 Hours of Le Mans: Since 2000 brands of the Volkswagen Group have been dominating the endurance classic. In 2003 the exploit by Bentley was added to the tally of Audi’s eight victories. The British sports car was powered by a TFSI engine developed by Audi Sport. Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich had overall responsibility for all nine victories of the group.

In 2006 Audi was the first manufacturer to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a diesel-powered vehicle. The Audi R10 TDI remained unbeaten three times in a row. In 2009 Audi was the first manufacturer to compete with a second-generation diesel prototype.

From 1999 to 2009 Audi and the brand’s customer teams covered a total of 158,936.832 race kilometers with all of the sports prototypes ever fielded at Le Mans, which amounts to a distance of almost exactly four times around the earth at the level of the equator.

In this period 30 of the 37 factory-fielded or privately entered Audi vehicles finished the races and were classified, which equates to a rate of 81 percent.

In 2009 the Audi R15 TDI cars ran with a racing version of Shell V-Power Diesel which had undergone further optimization. In addition to the well-known GTL component, a small amount of BTL (biomass-to-liquid) – second-generation bio fuel – was added to the mixture. In May of 2009 the so-called IRT technology (Instant Response Technology) was introduced on the market for the first time in Italy. This technology was developed for even better energy conversion and successfully tested at Le Mans in recent years. It shows how consumers can benefit from the technology partnership with Audi Sport.

Dindo Capello, Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen covered 5,124.504 racing kilometers (376 laps) in the Audi R15 TDI (chassis number 104).

Allan McNish managed posting the fastest race lap of an Audi R15 TDI on Sunday morning on lap 316 at 3m 26.632s (average: 237.448 km/h). In qualifying McNish – setting a time of 3m 23.650s – had achieved an average of 240.925 km/h.

The Audi R15 TDI competing as car number 1 achieved an average speed of 212.734 km/h – all pit stops included.

The top speed of the Audi R15 TDI designated as car number 1 was 325 km/h at Le Mans.

The Audi R15 TDI driven by Dindo Capello/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish pitted 32 times during the course of the 24 Hours before crossing the finish line and spent 1h 01m 50.469s in the pits. The tires were changed 17 times.

Only 32 of the 55 vehicles that started from the grid finished the race and were classified. Audi Sport Team Joest took two of the three Audi R15 TDI cars across the finish line.

Typically, the Audi drivers were able to complete twelve laps with one filling of Shell V-Power Diesel fuel. The average consumption of the Audi R15 TDI designated as car number 1 was merely 40.18 liters per 100 kilometers.

The winning car experienced just eight driver changes. Tom Kristensen drove the longest stint: The Dane was continuously at the wheel of the Audi R15 TDI for 3 hours and 10 minutes, from 9:15 pm until 00:25 am.