Prior to the 6 Hours of Bahrain, Audi decided to enter two hybrid cars for the remainder of the FIA World Championship season instead of one conventional R18 ultra and one R18 e-tron quattro hybrid in order to put all their drivers, currently heading the drivers’ classification, on an equal footing. In order to retain the same chassis, the German constructor had to completely strip down the No.2 car so as to re-build it as a hybrid. Ralf Jüttner, Audi Sport Team Joest Team Manager enlightened us further.
Ralf, why was it necessary to completely take the car apart?
“From the same chassis we can build one car or the other (R18 ultra or R18 e-tron quattro), there’s just one single homologation for both, by the way. However, when a chassis has never been used as a hybrid, this takes more time. In fact, when we build our hybrid car for the first time, we put clips in place to secure the wiring looms or the water hoses for example, which stay in from then on. To install the motor generator unit (MGU), which holds the energy harvested from braking, we have to take everything apart because it’s the first element to be fitted. Then, we have to change the whole wiring system before installing hoses for the water cooling of the hybrid system.”
How much time do the two operations take?
“All the parts, including the engine, have a limited life: all in all, the 24 Hours of Le Mans plus a margin of safety. We rebuilt the cars after Le Mans, but it wasn’t possible to get to the end of the season without making this ‘revision’. We have therefore benefitted from the rebuilding of the car by checking on all parts at the same time. The strip down and rebuild took two complete days with six mechanics flat out, helped by their colleagues on the other car, but if the chassis had already been used as a hybrid, one day would have been enough.”
Were there any unexpected problems?
“Everyone thinks about the parts on the car, but we had to also think about all the removable items. For marketing reasons the livery on the two cars is different. This isn’t painted on; we use coloured vinyl. To take it off isn’t a problem but, in contrast, it’s impossible to apply it in temperatures of 40oC because it becomes stretchy and splits. We have three technicians from the suppliers who have worked on all the bodywork for three days in air-conditioned offices which weren’t designed as workshops! All these tasks can easily be done in our workshops, but it become much more complicated away from them. We have had to improvise, but we often do unusual things at Audi!”
Interview by Cécile Bonardel, translation by Fiona Miller
Photo: SAKHIR (BAHRAIN), BAHRAIN INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT, 6 HOURS OF BAHRAIN, WEDNESDAY, 26TH SEPTEMBER 2012. The No.2 Audi has been completely stripped down and rebuilt in order to switch from an R18 ultra to an R18 e-tron quattro.
