| Audi to race a diesel-powered vehicle at Le Mans 24 Hour |
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PARIS: German carmaker Audi AG is using its diesel engine-powered car to win the Le Mans 24 Hour race on 17-18 June 2006. The company, which has won Le Mans five times in the last six years, said it will send its new R10, the 5.5-litre, 12-cylinder twin turbo TDI engine-fitted vehicle, to the race. The car produces 650 bhp and 1,100 Newton metres of torque and is extremely quiet and economical.
Audi introduced R10 model in Paris Tuesday and intends to have Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish at the wheels for the race.
Audi Motorsport's head Wolfgang Ullrich said the TDI technology has not been tried in motorsports and Audi intends to prove its worth. The company has roped in Bosch, Michelin and Shell as its long-term technology partners in this effort.
It has taken almost two years for the company to successfully complete its diesel plans and the R10 will undergo further tests and evaluations before its debut at Sebring in March 2006.
Le Mans is considered the toughest race in most gruelling environments. The race extends to 24 hours. Audi becomes the first automaker to contest for an overall win with a diesel engine in this race.
Audi R10 replaces R8, which won the French enduro five times. R10's wheelbase is longer than the R8, and the chassis, engine and gearbox constitute a rugged, fully stressed unit. It completed its first test at the end of November.
Peugeot has announced a diesel-powered vehicle for the race, but it is likely to introduce it in 2007, when it returns to endurance racing.
Audi R8 ran in 77 events scoring 61 wins, five of them in the 24 Hour Le Mans. It also won six American Le Mans championships, one right after the other since the 2000 season and all through it has never developed any technical snags.
Audi's chairman Martin Winterkorn said with the A8 4.2 TDI quattro, Audi already builds one of the most powerful diesel cars in the world and the Le Mans project will help its technicians to extract even more from TDI technology. "Nowadays, every second Audi is delivered with a TDI engine. We expect that the percentage of diesel engines will be even larger in the future."
Posted
on : Wed, 14 Dec 2005 08:10 GMT | General News
By : Mark Richardson
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