Quotes after the Le Mans 24 Hours
Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “The 2008 Le Mans 24 Hour race will become part of history as a unique race. It was a tense race for the whole duration of 24 hours. We didn’t enter the race as the favourite, but our success was the result of good performances and a faultless showing – and we achieved that against strong opponent. I think you couldn’t imagine a better race for the spectators. Audi once again showed that its slogan „Vorsprung durch Technik“ is true.“
Dindo Capello (Audi R10 TDI #2): “It was a great race, a perfect race. I’m totally happy and proud to be part of this team. The only possibility for us to beat the faster Peugeots was a race without mistakes. The team did an incredible job. Our Audi did not have the slightest problem. We did not lose a single second in the pits. Like this we were able to beat Peugeot. Audi has the right people to win races even if for once we do not have the fastest car. We’ve showed that.”
Tom Kristensen (Audi R10 TDI #2): “Wow! What a race. This was the extension of Allan (McNish), Dindo (Capello) and myself from last year. We just grew into the race getting better and more confident all the time. We forgot all that talking that we can’t win together or can’t win with the ‘yellow’ car. Thanks to Audi! They trust in us. They prepared us a race car which we could race and really push hard through 24 hours to win against great opposition from Peugeot. We did a perfect race thanks to our engineer Howden (Haynes) and all the people in the background including Ralf Jüttner and Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. They all made the right calls in terms of the right tyre choices during this crazy showers. Allan deserved to finally win Le Mans with Audi. Dindo is a fantastic Italian gentleman and very fast. I hope we can do many more Le Mans races together.”
Allan McNish (Audi R10 TDI #2): “I’m overjoyed to have finally won the Le Mans 24 Hours with Audi. I’ve come very close on numerous occasions in the past but despite fierce opposition from start to finish, some of the most demanding and difficult track conditions, and unpredictable weather, I’ve finally done it – my thanks to everyone at Audi Sport and Team Joest. I didn’t take risks at the start and was happy to follow the Peugeots. But they soon encountered problems of varying degrees. The track was treacherous in the rain – greasy and slippery – like driving on ice. Thankfully the car was very sure-footed but driving in those conditions for over three hours required 100% concentration because if you made the slightest mistake, you just didn’t go wide, you would have crashed off and out of the race.”
Lucas Luhr (Audi R10 TDI #3): “Heart-full Congratulations to the whole Audi Team, Joest, Tom (Kristensen), Allan (McNish) and Dindo (Capello). They did a fantastic job and deserved the victory. Our race was okay, but we lost some time at the beginning. At the end we had to come twice into the garage ending our battle with the #9 Peugeot prematurely. We just missed the podium with our fourth place. But we have the chance for improvements next year...”
Alexandre Prémat (Audi R10 TDI #3): “I’m very happy about my first finish at Le Mans. We just missed the podium by finishing fourth. This is a really good result because the fight between the six diesel-powered cars from Audi and Peugeot was very tough. I think Lucas (Luhr), Mike (Rockenfeller) and I did a very good job. We can only be happy. We get a lot of experience this year for the future.”
Mike Rockenfeller (Audi R10 TDI #3): “We knew before it would be a great and extremely difficult race. We three gave everything, but unfortunately it was not enough for Alex (Prémat), Lucas (Luhr) and me to make it onto the rostrum. We had some minor problems, and in such a strong field this means you can’t be at the top. But we three learnt a lot and now we hope that we can attack again next year and maybe make it onto the podium.”
Frank Biela (Audi R10 TDI #1): “I certainly expected more but it is as it is. The good thing is that Audi has won today – in spite of the strong performance that Peugeot has shown in practice. My sincerest congratulations. Also, I want to extend my wishes to the three winners.”
Emanuele Pirro (Audi R10 TDI #1): “It’s been an unbelievable and fantastic race. Allan (McNish), Dindo (Capello) and Tom (Kristensen) really deserve this victory because they did a fantastic job. It proves that even with a faster car that you can’t win when you don’t have the right package (I mean Peugeot). It was a great day for Audi. As far as we are concerned I’m not so happy about our race. We did not have the luck, we did not have enough speed this year. This has been quite an unfortunate race for us.”
Marco Werner (Audi R10 TDI #1): “I’m very proud to be part of the team which has again won Le Mans. Congratulations to Allan (McNish), Dindo (Capello), Tom (Kristensen) and Audi for the victory. Of course it’s a shame that not all of our cars made it to the top of the field. As expected it was a tough weekend. Two cars had some little issues, but one car completed the race without difficulties and won thanks to the great reliability. What else do you want?”
Ralf Jüttner (Technischer Direktor Audi Sport Team Joest): “This race was absolutely crazy. We didn’t start as the favourites. Still, we always believed we could do it and I had a good feeling without knowing why. Initially, Peugeot has been quicker as expected. But then our opponent had to fight some gremlins and we followed closely. At a certain stage, everything went well for Peugeot and we dropped back slightly. Then came the weather which was chaotic. It required decisions at very short notice: which tyres do we go for, which ones are available at all? Everything worked well. The guys sometimes received their instructions regarding the tyre variant barely seconds before the pitstops. Not a single fault of the crew, the strategy was good, the drivers made no mistakes. This is something extremely unusual in a 24 Hour race. That’s why this race will have a special place in my memory.”