Present decade sees more success
With re-configured aerodynamics and a better balance with its Michelin tyres the developed R15-plus scorched to a perfect 1-2-3 in 2010 after Peugeot’s disastrous engine issues accounted for all of its entries.
2011 was one of the most dramatic Le Mans ever witnessed after Audi was reduced to just one entry before half distance due to Allan McNish and Mike Rockenfeller’s monster accidents. The concern and then relief etched in to Dr Ulrich’s face as McNish emerged from his wreck showed the emotional pull of the competition to Audi and its talismanic leader.
Photo: AOL Cars UK
Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler scored the first of their hat-trick of victories as the Peugeots circled in for the kill. All three of the new breed of Audi heroes, engineered by the combative Leena Gade, dug deep to win by 13-seconds, the fourth closest winning margin in the race’s history.
Audi innovated again in 2012 with hybrid technology and a four-wheel drive flywheel delivered system. Audi ran four cars, two R18 e-tron quattros and two more conventional R18 ultras. The former finished a glorious 1-2 to secure the 11th Audi win. Two more followed in ‘13 and ’14, each warding off the potent threat of Toyota.
A new golden period of endurance racing was being born and Audi, as ever, didn’t rest on laurels. With Porsche joining the fray in 2014, Audi was already a double champion in the new for 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship and a new cauldron of competitive endurance action was being lapped up record crowds at Le Mans.
After 13 wins in 15 attempts Audi relinquished their grip on the race to Porsche who took a well-judged victory. Porsche defended its crown this year despite Audi arriving with the jaw-droppingly extreme Audi R18. Having done away with the flywheel energy storage and employed a lithium-ion battery system which held high hopes for a return to the top step of the podium. It wasn’t enough though and despite a victory at Spa and encouraging pace post-Le Mans the decision was taken to bring down the curtain on a momentous journey.
Vorsrpung durch Technik – Progress through technology, it was first coined as a corporate slogan by Audi in 1982. It was one of the more successful phrases ever used by an automotive company and it is one which perfectly lyricises the colossal achievement of Audi in endurance racing for almost two decades.
Audi achieved so much more than just the 13 wins at Le Mans. 11 x 12 Hours of Sebring victories, 2 x FIA WEC crowns, 7 x ALMS titles and 9 x Petit Le Mans wins are also remarkable headline stats. But there were more successes in such as the Le Mans Series and Intercontinental Le Mans Cup that filled out the trophy cabinets.
For Audi, the glorious voyage which encompassed so many successful technical and human missions, the competitive spirit will be transferred to other areas of motorsport. The heroes and heroines are too numerous to list but what they brought to endurance racing was not only brilliance and guile, but a sporting ethic which perfectly embraced the essence of endurance, and in its own way laid down a marker for an honourable spirit which is set to leave a legacy on the sport for decades to come.
Sam Smith
