While the Manufacturers’ FIA World Endurance Championship title always had a good chance of ending up in Audi’s hands for the 2012 season, with the Toyota project being in its infancy, the drivers' title was much more open; regulations decreed, however, that it was never going to anyone other than an LMP1 driver. And we had to wait until the very last race of the season in Shanghai to learn who the winners were. Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer will forever be known as the first three World Endurance Champions in the new FIA era.
The outcome appeared altogether logical when one takes stock of their year, but it wasn’t without risk for band of three. Named as one of the driving teams to represent the Ingolstadt manufacturer in the Championship, the 2011 winners of the 24 Hours of Le Mans had the difficult task of debuting the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro diesel hybrid.
The size of the challenge made a second consecutive victory at the Sarthe more unlikely, but it takes more than that to destabilize the three friends who seem to let nothing stand in their way. The season, however, started badly in Sebring with technical problems quickly ending the hopes of the No.1 car crew. At Spa, the first race for the hybrid-engined car, the trio mounted the second step of the podium after leading part of the race. While the track remained wet, the prototype did wonderfully, with the hybrid system transforming it into a four-wheel drive vehicle, but it was Marc Gené’s ingenuity and experience in tyre choice which allowed the conventionally-engined sister car to grab first place.
That was just a minor set-back though as Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer made their mark at the next race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was the first twice-round-the-clock race and the first victory for the new car from the brand with the four rings and, above all, the first triumph for a hybrid car in the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The spiral of success was once again moving upwards for the No.1 crew, who would go on to reach the top step of the podium at Silverstone and Bahrain.
The trio’s title fight was effectively handicapped all year with the Sebring failure, which could have cost them the prize in the face of the challenge from Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish, their Audi team mates and also their main rivals. The duo was remarkably consistent and could have claimed the title right up until the end, even though they only had a single win at… Sebring! They were finally defeated by the Spanish Armada, which appeared to be on another plane.
If we had to sum up in a word the atmosphere between the winning trio, it would be 'laid-back', in the best sense of the word. Pressure doesn’t seem to trouble them, as if they were in a bubble. Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer have known each other for many years, having come through the ranks together. The Frenchman then self-exiled himself in Japan where he became a star, meeting André Lotterer with whom he became very close. The chemistry comes perhaps from the fact that the three partners have chosen to work together, a choice that Benoit Tréluyer has no regrets about. "If I had to pick one word to sum up this title it would be 'friendship'. Though this is a drivers’ championship, it was acquired as a team and is the result of a fabulous car, fantastic engineers and mechanics as well as three good friends behind the wheel. We’ve enjoyed some incredible moments together, both at Le Mans and elsewhere."
Cecile Bonardel (translation by Fiona Miller)
