Audi unveils the new R18 e-tron quattro
The new Audi R18 e-tron quattro did not do its initial kilometers at Le Mans on the legendary race track in Western France but in public traffic. Audi factory driver Tom Kristensen, with nine victories under his belt the record holder of the Le Mans 24 Hours, drove the diesel hybrid sports car from the Saint-Julien du Mans cathedral in the city center to the famous race track.
Accompanied by TV cameras and photographers, and featured in a live worldwide broadcast on the internet, Audi’s new LMP1 race car completed the near-ten-kilometer distance through the city in a motorcade, did a lap on the Circuit Bugatti and arrived in front of the race track’s modern Welcome Center amid the applause of the invited international journalists and guests. “I’ve been competing at Le Mans since 1997 but this was absolutely new for me, too, and very exciting,” said Tom Kristensen, who in 2006 had driven the revolutionary Audi R10 TDI on its world premiere – in Paris – in public traffic as well. Aside from the unusual drive which brought back memories of a Le Mans era from the distant past when the drivers would arrive in their own race cars, Audi surprised the public with a new livery of the Le Mans car. While the body of the new R18 e-tron quattro was still black with red details when the car made its world debut in December, a striking color scheme now catches the eye. The new color scheme of white, silver, red and black stands for fresh, expressive graphics. “The colors are symbolic,” explains Dirk van Braeckel, Design Manager Motorsport and Special Projects at Audi. “Silver emphasizes the past success in racing. As a very quiet color, it provides the base for our livery. White, as the second color, harmonizes well with silver and appears very light. It stands for the hybrid drive. White is used asymmetrically in order to symbolize the complexity of this powertrain technology.” The contours are modeled after the conductive tracks on PCBs, but clearly featured as an abstraction.
Audi R18 e-tron quattro: heading for Le Mans with all-wheel drive
Electrified drive and quattro all-wheel drive – what looks like two different worlds at first glance has been merged into a technological synthesis by Audi. “Soon after the TDI phase had begun we started to think about the hybridization of a Le Mans sports prototype, when it was foreseeable that the regulations would open up this option,” explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “After exploring the concepts we quickly saw the opportunity of bringing a new technological specification of all-wheel drive back into motorsport. Unfortunately, it had been banned from circuit racing since 1998.” From 1981 to 1997, Audi won four titles in the World Rally Championship, clinched three victories at Pikes Peak, a championship win in the TRANS-AM, two DTM titles and eleven national Super Touring Car Championships plus a Touring Car World Cup with quattro models. For the first time since the 1998 ban an all-wheel drive model is now allowed to compete in the FIA’s circuit racing program. Yet what sounds like a simply return has been one of the biggest tasks ever tackled by Audi Sport to date. Packaging an additional front-wheel drive and a hybrid system into a sports car is particularly difficult due to the space conditions. With a width of two meters and a length of 4.65 meters the car has large outer dimensions. But underneath the outer shell there is a monocoque construction which in motorsport has been quite classically optimized for totally different aspects than the integration of a drive axle and incorporation of a hybrid system. Consequently, the achievements of the engineering team that has made the hybrid front-wheel drive reality are particularly impressive: for example, because the entire drive unit is installed inside the carbon fiber structure for optimal protection. Or because the monocoque has been stretched in forward length compared with the predecessor model.
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Audi R18 e-tron quattro
The Audi R18 e-tron quattro is Audi’s hybrid pioneer in racing. In 2012, Audi was the first manufacturer to enter a hybrid sports car in the newly incepted FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). In 2012 and 2013, the company won the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles in the WEC with its drivers. In the Le Mans 24 Hours, the diesel-electric hybrid drive remained unbeaten three consecutive times from 2012 to 2014.
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Audi brings the quattro back to the race track
World premiere in Munich: the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro Four-wheel driven diesel hybrid for the 24 Hours of Le Mans Audi ultra lightweight as base for the application of hybrid technology
Motor sport is used yet again by AUDI AG to pioneer new technology: the brand with the four ring’s new Le Mans race car is the world’s first LMP1 car to combine a highly-efficient TDI with a hybrid system. quattro drive also celebrates its comeback to the race track with the prototype – in a entirely new form.
Audi R18 e-tron quattro is the name of the new Le Mans prototype that makes its race debut on May 5 in the 6-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) and fights for overall victory at the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans (France) on June 16/17. Audi unites two technologies in a fascinating way to create a new type of drive, which is also already being tested for future use in production cars: e-tron quattro. Hiding behind this description is the next generation four-wheel drive with which Audi combines the advantages of the proven quattro drive with the potential of electromobility. To this end one vehicle axle is powered conventionally, the second by electric motors. “Audi has always consciously selected championships and categories in racing that have a close relationship to production and therefore have technical relevance for the Audi customers,” explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, who personally drove the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro onto the stage on Wednesday evening during its world premiere in the Audi Training Center at Munich airport – electrically and almost silent. “quattro, TFSI and TDI are three excellent examples of how motorsport has stimulated production development. A similar tendency is apparent with the e-tron quattro: we test a completely new technology on the race track before it’s introduced to the Audi production line.” On the Audi R18 e-tron quattro kinetic energy is recovered on the front axle during the braking phase.
Audi banks on hybrid technology
Three hybrid race cars at the Le Mans 24 Hours Further development of the Audi R18 e-tron quattro First World Champion with a hybrid sports car
Eleven victories at the Le Mans 24 Hours, ten successes at the Sebring 12 Hours, nine titles in the American Le Mans Series – and now Endurance World Champion as well: No other automobile manufacturer has shaped the sports prototype scene in the last decade the way Audi has. With technical innovations and the further development of hybrid technology, Audi is aiming to defend its lead.
With the Audi R18 e-tron quattro, the brand with the four rings achieved the first triumph of a hybrid race car at the Le Mans 24 Hours. In addition, Audi won the new FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and is thus the first World Champion in history with a hybrid sports car. In 2013, Audi is competing in the World Endurance Championship as the title defender. Audi Sport Team Joest will be fielding two updated Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars, a third R18 e-tron quattro will be running at the Le Mans 24 Hours and the WEC race at Spa. Three hybrid race cars at Le Mans At Le Mans and in the WEC, Audi is thus exclusively banking on hybrid technology that was successfully introduced in 2012. The flywheel energy storage system is becoming even more powerful without any substantial increase in weight and size. Strictly in terms of its exterior, the Audi R18 e-tron quattro will hardly differ from this year’s winning car although numerous technical innovations are again assembled under the vehicle’s ultra-light carbon fiber skin. In a parallel project, Audi Sport is already intensively working on the successor car for the new LMP1 regulations that will come into effect as of 2014. “For Audi Sport, it was a major feat to develop a hybrid race car in a very short period of time and to immediately bring what was a completely new technology for us to success at Le Mans and in the WEC,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich.
WEC one-two victory for Audi at Silverstone
First success for new Audi R18 e-tron quattro Allan McNish celebrates “home” victory with Loïc Duval and Tom Kristensen Second sports car triumph for Audi in the 2013 season
Audi began the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in World Champion’s style. The two Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars dominated the Silverstone 6 Hours and deservingly clinched a one-two victory. For Audi, following the one-two result in the non-championship Sebring 12 Hours in March, this marked the second sports car success this year.
For the first time, Audi won the famous RAC Tourist Trophy. The tradition-steeped trophy that has been awarded since 1905, was the main prize for the 2013 WEC opening event. The Scotsman Allan McNish (GB) was pleased to win this important motorsport trophy at his “home” round. Together with Tom Kristensen (DK) he was on the grid for the first time with his new team-mate Loïc Duval (F). The trio is now leading the WEC drivers’ standings with a seven-point advantage. In the fifth hour of the race, after 151 laps, they took the lead. Despite an excursion while lapping another car and an additional tire change McNish went on to recover the lead and crossed the finish line with a 3.4-second advantage. From the start, a thrilling battle had ensued with challenger Toyota. Allan McNish in the number 2 Audi grabbed the lead for the first time on the sixth lap. The sister car – number 1 – driven by Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer (CH/D/F) completed Audi’s one-two lead at an early stage. On lap 77, the Swiss fought his way forward to the very front. A defect on the left front driveshaft after four hours of racing though meant that the hybrid system of car number 1 was no longer able to deliver its power to the front wheels. With that, the current World Champions had to admit defeat. In the technologically challenging battle of the best hybrid sports cars Audi – like last year – achieved victory in front of Toyota at Silverstone.