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Last year’s Sebring pole time beaten First outing in hot conditions for V12 TDI engine Interview with Ulrich Baretzky, Head of Engine Technology The new Audi R10 grabbed the headlines once again on second day of the American Le Mans Series’ (ALMS) “Winter Test” in Sebring. Audi driver Dindo Capello gave the first glimpse of the new diesel sportscar’s potential: With his fastest lap of 1m 48.816s, the Audi driver dipped under last year’s pole position time by almost one second. Ulrich Baretzky, Head of Engine Technology at Audi Sport, talks about the 650 hp V12 TDI engine’s course of development and the Audi R10 test at Sebring. What does the lap time set by Dindo Capello mean? Ulrich Baretzky: “Not a great deal. It wasn’t our target to set a competitive lap time at any cost here. For us it is a question of gathering data and to sort out the car. The time obviously shows that we are heading down the right path with the R10 concept. You have to take into account that this is only our third test with a completely new car. There’s a long way to go before Le Mans, it’s not just about doing one fast lap there, but reliability is of far more importance.” It would appear to be a surprise for many people that the V12 TDI engine in the R10 is not only very quiet, but that it produces absolutely no smoke… Baretzky: “From the very beginning it was our target that our diesel was unrecognisable, in much the same way as our production cars, as a diesel – particularly not by a cloud of smoke, but in fact through its low noise level, by its low consumption and its performance. Our goal was to develop a low emission diesel engine and we chose to go without one or two horsepower for the benefit of smoke free running. We are also using new particle filters here at Sebring for the first time, which have proven to be extremely effective till now. My colleagues from the chassis side aren’t quite as fond of them as they are actually fairly big.

The revolutionary diesel technology has now also triumphed in competition with Formula 1 and other motorsport categories: A panel of experts from the British specialist magazine “Race Engine Technology” voted the 650 hp V12 TDI engine from the Audi R10 TDI as “Race Engine of the Year 2006” and “Alternative Race Engine of the Year”. On behalf of AUDI AG, Ulrich Baretzky accepted the “Race Engine of the Year” trophy at the Professional MotorSport World Expo in Cologne. The Head of Engine Technology at Audi Sport was also awarded the title “Design Engineer of the Year 2006” at the international motorsport exhibition. The Audi R10 TDI is unbeaten since making its debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring (USA) last March. The revolutionary diesel sportscar started eight races and took the chequered flag as winner on each occasion – impressive proof of the efficiency of Audi TDI Power. Audi customers will soon benefit from the experience gained at Le Mans starting with a 500 hp V12 TDI engine for the Q7. Worldwide every second new Audi is already delivered with a diesel engine – trend increasing.

High-calibre driver squad for Audi R10 Seasoned campaigners at wheel of the new diesel sportscar First race on 18 March at Sebring (USA) AUDI AG wants to achieve its ambitious goal, to be the first automobile manufacturer to win the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans with a diesel engine, with a high-calibre driver line-up: The two Audi R10 prototypes will be driven by Frank Biela (D), Dindo Capello (I), Tom Kristensen (DK), Allan McNish (GB), Emanuele Pirro (I) and Marco Werner (D) – all seasoned campaigners who have proven their driving skills at the wheel of the Audi R8 over the course of the last few years. The R10 is powered by a newly developed V12 TDI engine producing almost 650 hp and 1100 Newton metres of torque. “The R10 project is the greatest challenge ever to face Audi Sport,” explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. “It goes without saying that we needed drivers with experience in depth for this project, who also play an important roll during the development. I’m delighted that we have managed to form such a strong driving squad for Le Mans and for the test race at Sebring.” Each of the six Audi drivers has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 12-hour race at Sebring at least once, as a group they have recorded 17 Le Mans and twelve Sebring wins. Heading the list is the Dane Tom Kristensen (38) who has already won seven times at Le Mans and three times at Sebring. The six contest their first race with the R10 at the 12 Hours of Sebring (USA) on 18 March which is seen as a test race for Le Mans. With the exception of Tom Kristensen all the Audi drivers have already tested the new Audi R10 extensively. Kristensen was at the wheel of the R10 during the presentation in Paris in December and will get ample opportunity during the test and practice days before the Sebring race to familiarise himself with the new diesel sportscar.

Two Audi R10 prototypes in the American Le Mans Series Works comeback for Audi in the ALMS Team from Audi Sport North America The AUDI AG motorsport programme for the 2006 season extends beyond the DTM and the 24 Hours of Le Mans: Audi will also contest the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) with the new R10 diesel sportscar during the second half of the season. As a result, Audi returns to the world’s most popular sportscars series at a factory level. The Audi R10, which is powered by a V12 TDI engine with almost 650 hp, celebrates its eagerly awaited race debut on the 18 March at Sebring (USA). The 12-hour race in Florida acts as a test race for the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 17/18 June and is also the opening race of the 2006 American Le Mans Series, in which Audi Sport, Team Joest and Champion Racing will cooperate closely. After the premiere at Sebring the two Audi R10 prototypes will be flown back to Europe to be prepared for the season’s highpoint at Le Mans on June 17/18. Afterwards, Audi Sport North America will contest the remaining six ALMS races, starting with the Grand Prix of Utah on 15 July on the new circuit near Salt Lake City, with two R10 prototypes and the support of Champion Racing. At the three ALMS races between Sebring and Salt Lake City the Audi Sport North America squad relies once again on the well proven Audi R8, which has already recorded 61 wins from 77 races. Audi have already competed with a factory team in the ALMS between 2000 and 2002. Audi of America continued its involvement in the following three years with importer teams and celebrated sixth successive ALMS championship titles. “The main reason for developing the Audi R10 was to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as we want to be the world's first automobile manufacturer to win with a diesel engine,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. “From the very beginning it was however our intention to enter the R10 in every racing series based on Le Mans.

Great media interest at Sebring’s “Winter Test” First public test for the new Diesel sports car Three-day test in high temperatures After the spectacular presentation in Paris in December and a brief appearance at the Los Angeles Auto Show at the beginning of January, the Audi R10 is again proving to be a sensation: Since Monday, the new diesel sports car turns its first laps in front of public eyes at the “Winter Test” of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) at Sebring (Florida). The media interest is correspondingly high: Never before have there been so many journalists, camera teams and photographers attending an American Le Mans Series test. The Audi R10 has even attracted spectators to attend Sebring, the venue for the new Audi sports car’s race debut on 18 March. The development team of Audi Sport runs two Audi R10 prototypes at Sebring. German Frank Biela and Italian Dindo Capello are driving the two cars. While Biela had completed the roll-out of the R10 in November 2005, Capello was at the steering wheel of the new diesel sports car for the first time on Monday. On Monday, the two Audi drivers completed a total of 86 laps around the 5.955-kilometre circuit that is especially demanding for machinery due to its bumpy surface and is regarded as an ideal test track for a new race car. Furthermore, the newly developed V12 TDI engine faces its first test in high temperatures: While the previous tests in Europe were run in cool weather conditions, temperatures in Florida are reaching about 30 degrees in the shade.

By winning with the new Audi R10 TDI on its Le Mans début, AUDI AG has opened an important new chapter in motorsport history. Facts and figures concerning the victory at Le Mans: It was the 74th running of the race, which was held for the first time in 1923. The race winning car with the number 8 completed 380 laps in the 24 hours – one lap more than the previous record set in 2004 around the current circuit layout. 380 laps is the equivalent of 5,187 kilometres or almost the entire distance of every Formula 1 race in a season. Including qualifying, warm-up and the information laps before the race the engine in the winning car reeled off 469 laps (6,402 kilometres) during the Le Mans week – an impressive proof of the reliability of the new power plant, which has an aluminium cylinder block. The winning car’s average speed over the entire distance was 215.409 kph. Thanks to the economical Audi V12 TDI engine, the Audi drivers only had to pit for refuelling once every 14 laps. The winning car used only approximately 41 litres of Shell V-Power Diesel per 100 kilometres – for a race engine producing more than 650 hp and more than 1100 Newton metre torque and extremely low figure. In the closing laps of the race the Audi drivers even completed as many as 16 laps on a single tank of fuel. Tom Kristensen was the first driver to achieve this. The V12 TDI engine’s gear-shift rev threshold is at the unusually low level of 5000 revolutions per minute for a race engine. The winning car made only 27 pit stops during the 24:04:47.325 hours. The car only made two unscheduled pit stops: once to change the gear-cluster in the gearbox (03:47 a.m.), and once due to a slow puncture (04:23 a.m.). Thanks to Audi Sport’s revolutionary new gearbox concept the gear-cluster change required a mere 9:50 minutes – including refuelling and change of tyres. The triumphant Audi R10 TDI with the number 8 spent less than 30 minutes in the pits during the entire race.

Presentation at Los Angeles Auto Show Race debut in the USA on 18 March Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen confirmed as driver The Audi R10 celebrated its premiere in the USA two-and-a-half months before its race debut in Sebring (Florida) on 18 March. The first sportscar in history with a diesel power unit, which aims for overall victory at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans, was one of the attractions during the “Audi Designers´ Tuesday”. Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich and Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen unveiled the R10, which is powered by a 650 hp V12 TDI-engine, to the prominent people gathered among the 350 guests invited before the opening of the Los Angeles Motor Show. “Audi tries to do something with the R10 which no other manufacturer has attempted in motorsport,” explained Dr Ullrich during an interview with presenter Désriée Nosbusch. “The diesel project is the greatest challenge ever to have been given to Audi Sport.” Tom Kristensen, who was recently voted as “Sports Personality of the Year” in his homeland Denmark for the second time, is the first of a total of six drivers, who will compete in Sebring and Le Mans with the Audi R10, to be confirmed. The 38-year old celebrated his seventh victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June 2005 and is, as a result, the most successful Le Mans driver in its history. “It was very important for us to be able to continue this long and successful partnership, particularly in such a demanding project,” said Dr Ullrich. “The R10 project is a very special challenge for which the best drivers are required – and Tom is without a shadow of a doubt one of the world’s best.” The Dane has been driving for Audi since the 2000 season. He celebrated five of his seven Le Mans victories at the wheel of the R10 predecessor, the R8. In 2002 Kristensen won the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) with the R8.

Fourth round of American Le Mans Series close to Salt Lake City Audi R10 TDI with torque advantage Diesel sportscar continues to make headlines Three races, two wins: The results of the Audi R10 TDI in the 2008 American Le Mans Series 2008 are impressive. Boosted by two overall victories on the street circuits in St Petersburg and Long Beach, the Audi Sport North America team comes as championship leaders to Salt Lake City, Utah, where Audi’s diesel sportscar has already played a leading roll twice. Emanuele Pirro in particular made the headlines in the previous two years. In 2006, the Italian kept Lucas Luhr, at that time sill at the wheel of a lighter LM P2 Porsche, at bay during the dramatic closing stages and crossed the finish line as winner by a mere 0.318 seconds. Pirro managed quite probably the most spectacular start of the year at Miller Motorsports Park in 2007: Starting in eighth position with the Audi R10 TDI, he stormed into the lead before the first corner after overtaking every competitor, who had started in front of him, on the long start-finish straight. The sensational manoeuvre was viewed frequently on many Internet based video portals afterwards. It was yet another impressive demonstration of the performance of Audi TDI Technology, which is long since established in Europe and is also launched on the American market at the end of 2008. The Audi R10 TDI, which is known as the “whispering revolution” in the USA because of its quiet engine, heralds Audi’s diesel offensive on the US market. The more than 650 hp V12 TDI engine powering the Audi R10 TDI provides its drivers with the same advantages that a TDI engine has in a road going Audi: reduced consumption, a pleasant low background noise and enormous torque which is available spontaneously. The V12 TDI engine produces more than 1,110 Newton metres of torque, against which no other competitor has anything comparable to offer in the American Le Mans Series.