Audi Returns to Road Atlanta

The German manufacturer plans on entering 2 R15 TDI cars with sights set on Le Mans 2010

Audi to contest in “Petit Le Mans” race

At LotPro.com, we see that Audi has announced that it will be bringing 2 Audi R15 TDIs to the 1,000-mile “Petit Le Mans” race on September 26th. The race will be held at Road Atlanta located in Brazelton, Georgia, 40 miles northeast of Atlanta and home of the race since its inception in 1998.

For those unfamiliar with the “Petit Le Mans”, the race was originally part of IMSA, but in 1999 became one of the original events featured in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). Unlike its French namesake, the event covers 1,000 miles or 10 hours, whichever comes first and class winners receive an automatic invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the following year.

Audi Sport Team Joest

This year, Audi Sport Team Joest will compete with two Audi R15 TDIs with one being driven by the team of Dindo Capello of Italy and Allan McNish of Scotland, and the second piloted by Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner of Germany. Audi also plans for DTM racer Mike Rockenfeller to be the team’s reserve driver.

“The race at Road Atlanta already marks the first part of our preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2010,” explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “We want to use it as an opportunity for our engineers to learn even more about the new Audi R15 TDI in direct competition with strong rivals. A lot of things can be simulated on test rigs and in track tests. But nothing can replace the experience gathered in actual racing events.”

2009 season

Audi is, indeed having to look forward to next year’s Le Mans. After an auspicious start at the 12 Hours of Sebring, where the McNish/Capello duo finished ahead of the Peugeot 908 HDI FAP – although by a less-than-dominant 23 seconds (and Rockenfeller/Luhr placed third), things were generally looking good for the R15’s inaugural race in France.

Unfortunately, the weather at Le Mans proved very uncooperative and free practice was reduced to one evening. As such, the team was forced to do much of the sorting-out during qualifying. Audi was still able to muster a podium finish, albeit it in third (6 laps down at the end), but for a team used to finishing at the front, this year’s results had to be disappointing.

“We’re convinced that we weren’t able to fully exploit the potential of the R15 TDI at Le Mans,” says Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “At Road Atlanta, we’ll have the opportunity to test on Sunday before the race so that we should be in a better position than we were at Le Mans. Despite the strong competition by Acura/Honda, Peugeot, Mazda, Oreca and other prototype teams we figure on having good chances of fighting for victory, as we did over the past few years.”

Footnote

It should be noted that Audi will be competing in the “Petit Le Mans” race for the tenth time and thus far has been unbeaten. The R8 won six times while the R10 TDI won three times. The plan is for the R15 TDI to continue the streak. Stay tuned.

Tags: Acura, alms, american le mans series, audi, audi r15 tdi, audi sport, audi sport team joest, dtm, Honda, imsa, le mans, mazda, oreca, petit le mans, peugeot, road atlanta