SUCCESSFUL ROLLOUT FOR NEW PORSCHE LMP1 SPORTS PROTOTYPE

2014 Porsche LMP1 Sports Prototype

STUTTGART : June 25, 2013 - The new Porsche LMP1 sports prototype, which will compete in the sports car World Endurance Championship (WEC) and in the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 2014, successfully completed its first rollout today on the Porsche test track in Weissach. Before the eyes of the entire Board of Porsche AG, Porsche works driver Timo Bernhard took his new ‘wheels’ through its initial function check.

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2013 Le MANS 24 HOURS : e-tron quattro wins again at Le Mans

2013 Le Mans 24 Hrs : The Podium

As expected, the twelfth triumph for the four rings at Le Mans was one of the most difficult and hardest-fought ones. Following a change in the regulations that was made at short notice, the three Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars on average were able to do two laps less on one tank filling than their main rival Toyota. The Audi drivers had to compensate for the additional pit stops by faster lap times on track – and did so in weather conditions that at times were extremely difficult.

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Dome racing returns to compete in Le Mans 24 Hours and Spa-Francorchamps

2012 Dome S102.5

Japanese racing-car manufacturer Dome is returning to the Le Mans 24 Hours with the Le Mans-based Pescarolo Team.

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Audi with hybrid drive at Le Mans for the first time

2012 Audi LMP - Test car

• ACO and FIA accept AUDI AG entries
• Four Audi LMP1 sports cars at the 80th running of the 24 hours
• Conventional drive is further developed

INGOLSTADT/PARIS : February 2, 2012 – Audi competes in the 80th running of the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 16–17, 2012 with a total of four LMP1 sports cars. Two of the four cars in action will be equipped with hybrid drive for the first time. Audi Sport Team Joest also follows a two-pronged approach in the newly created FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) during the 2012 season.

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Audi wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2011 !

2011 Le Mans 24 Hrs Winners : Benoît Tréluyer, Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer - Audi R18 TDI #2 - Audi Sport Team Joest

• Audi clinches tenth triumph at the Le Mans 24 Hours
• Impressive performance by the new Audi R18 TDI
• Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer show strong nerves on the run toward victory

INGOLSTADT/LE MANS : June 12, 2011 – At one of the most thrilling and dramatic 24-hour races in Le Mans history Audi-ultra-lightweight technology has prevailed. At the fascinating thriller which kept 250,000 spectators at the race track and millions in front of their TV sets watching in awe Marcel Fässler (Switzerland), André Lotterer (Germany) and Benoît Tréluyer (France) in the innovative Audi R18 TDI clinched the tenth Le Mans victory in total for the brand with the four rings.

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Deltawing Concept to Le Mans in 2012! : Highcroft to campaign Gurney-built racer on world's greatest racing stage

Project 56 Group - DeltaWing concept RaceCar

Some of the biggest names in American motorsport have joined forces for the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans to showcase a unique concept demonstrating extreme performance with half the weight and horsepower of a traditional racing car.

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Two Porsche RS Spyder to compete Le Mans 24 hour

Porsche RS Spyder - Design NAVI Team Goh

STUTTGART : February 26, 2009 - The successful Porsche RS Spyder customer project heads into the next phase. Two teams will again field a Porsche RS Spyder each at the Le Mans 24 hour race (13-14 June). The NAVI Team Goh from Japan and the Essex squad from Denmark are eager to repeat the double victory of the RS Spyder in the LMP2 class last year. Porsche works drivers Sascha Maassen (Germany) and Emmanuel Collard (France) support the teams in their campaign.

Porsche RS Spyder - Team Essex - Le Mans 2008

Maassen (39), who already piloted a RS Sypder last year in Le Mans, will contest the event for the NAVI Team Goh. His team mates are the experienced Seiji Ara (Japan) and youngster Keisuke Kunimoto (Japan). Ara (34) won the overall classification in Le Mans back in 2004 with the Goh team, whilst the 20-year-old Formula 3 pilot, Kunimoto, contests the endurance classic at La Sarthe for the first time this year. The team’s Porsche RS Spyder is the winning car from last year that the Japanese outfit obtained from Van Merksteijn Motorsport. With the regulations requiring a substantial downsizing of the air-restrictors, the 3.4-litre V8 engine now delivers 440 hp instead of 476. Moreover, the rear wing and the underbody have been modified to conform to the regulation changes. Michelin is the team’s tyre partner.

Emmanuel Collard (37) joins up with Casper Elgaard (Denmark, 30) and Kristian Poulsen (Denmark, 33) to drive for the Essex team. The squad, who secured second place in the LMP2 classification of the 24 hour event in 2008, will race Michelin tyres for the first time. Both squads will conduct tests at the second round of the Le Mans Series in Spa on 10 May.

“I’m very pleased that, with Goh and Essex, we have two highly professional customer teams contesting Le Mans with a Porsche RS Spyder,” says Porsche’s Head of Motorsport, Hartmut Kristen. “Setting the quickest lap times of all LMP2 cars last year, the vehicle underlined its reliability and had the best efficiency of all participating sports prototypes. We have modified the cars to comply with the new technical regulations and I’m sure that both RS Spyder will again be very competitive in the LMP2 class.”

[Source : PORSCHE]

Le Mans glory for Audi and McNish

Audi R10 TDi

Scotland's Allan McNish led Audi to their fifth straight victory in the Le Mans 24 Hour sportscar race on Sunday.

McNish combined with Rinaldo Capello of Italy and Denmark's Tom Kristensen, who claimed a record eighth victory.

Peugeot had secured the top three places on Saturday's starting grid, but wet racing conditions handed the advantage to the Audi No.2 team.

Jacques Villeneuve, who was bidding to win motor racing's fabled Triple Crown, came second in the Peugeot No.7.

Villeneuve, Marc Gene and Nicolas Minassian also completed 381 laps but finished four minutes 31.094 seconds behind, with the Peugeot No.9 of Franck Montagny, Christian Klien and Ricardo Zonta two laps off the pace.

Villeneuve won the Indianapolis 500 in 1995 and the Formula One world championship in 1997, but could only hold the lead for a few laps to finish second.

Peugeot got off to a flying start with its three cars in the lead during the first two hours.

But two of its cars faced electronic problems in the third hour: the Peugeot No.8 had to stop for 20 minutes in the pits because of a gearbox problem while the Peugeot No.9's headlights gave out.

Capello took the lead at the start of the fourth hour while Minassian's Peugeot No.7 was refuelling, but Minassian overtook the Audi No.2 on the inside in the fifth hour on lap 71 to recapture the top spot.

The Peugeot No.9 was leading when the rain started in the 14th hour, offering an opportunity for the Audi cars to make up for their relative lack of speed in dry conditions.

And Kristensen overtook Villeneuve in the 15th hour on lap 234 when the Peugeot No.7 was again refuelling in the pits.

The Audi No.2 survived a scare in the 22nd hour after the diesel-powered car collided with a Zytek 07S, but carried on with no apparent damage.

"I'm very, very pleased and extremely proud," McNish said. "We did it with our backs against the wall, but we did it."

"Our car is difficult," Villeneuve said. "You get the power down coming out of corners and it snaps around, which makes it harder to overtake the slower cars."

Le Mans 24 Hour results:

1. Tom Kristensen, Denmark; Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Allan McNish, Britain; Audi No. 2, 381 laps.
2. Jacques Villeneuve, Canada; Marc Gene, Spain; Nicolas Minassian, France; Peugeot No. 7, 381 laps.
3. Franck Montagny, France; Christian Klien, Austria; Ricardo Zonta, Brazil; Peugeot No. 9, 379 laps.
4. Lucas Luhr and Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Alexandre Premat, France; Audi No. 3, 374 laps.
5. Pedro Lamy, Portugal; Stephane Sarrazin, France; Alexander Wurz, Austria; Peugeot No. 8, 368 laps.
6. Frank Biela and Marco Werner, Germany; Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Audi No. 1, 367 laps.
7. Harold Primat, Switzerland; Christophe Pinseau, France; Benoit Treluyer, France; Pescarolo Judd No. 17, 362 laps.
8. Soheil Ayari, Loic Duval and Laurent Groppi, France; Courage-Oreca Judd No. 5, 357 laps.
9. Tomas Enge and Jan Charouz, Czech Republic; Stefan Mucke, Germany; Lola Aston Martin No. 10, 354 laps.
10. Peter Van Merksteijn, Jos Verstappen and Jeroen Bleekemolen, Netherlands; Porsche RS Spyder No. 34, 354 laps.

[Source : BBC Sport UK]

Diesel Power Battle at Le Mans 24 Hrs.

Peugeot 908 HDi

Peugeot Diesel Smashes Audi's LeMans Track Record By Over 7 Seconds!

Paris, France - Peugeot pulverised the Le Mans lap record and filled the top three places after first qualifying for the weekend's 24 Hours sportscar race late on Wednesday.

French driver Stephane Sarrazin, partnered by Portugal's Pedro Lamy and Austrian Alex Wurz in the diesel-engined 908, demolished the existing record by 7.8 seconds with a time of three minutes, 18.513 seconds in the first session.

The remaining two Peugeots were also comfortably inside the lap record, with the three works Audi diesel R10s filling the next three places.

"Even if Audi is six seconds behind Peugeot, the race will be very different and we are expecting Audi to be a strong opponent," Sarrazin told the official Le Mans Web site (www.lemans.org).

Audi R10 TDi

Final qualifying ends late on Thursday.

Another trio of former Formula One drivers filled the second slot with France's Franck Montagny, partnered by Austrian Christian Klien and Brazilian Ricardo Zonta, lapping in 3:18.682.

Canada's 1997 Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve, Spaniard Marc Gene and France's Nicolas Minassian, were third fastest in 3:20.451.

Audi, with seven-times Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen in fourth place, said they were focusing more on set-up for the race, which starts on Saturday.

"We cannot do a better lap time than Peugeot," Dane Kristensen said.

"That is the reason why we focus mostly on the preparation of the race. We haven't used our best tyres and haven't got yet the best setting.

"We are sure that we can improve our time, even if Peugeot will probably be in pole position."

Audi have won at Le Mans for the past four years in a row and in seven of the last eight outings. However Peugeot have won all three LMS series races so far this season.

[Source : Reuters]