Audi Motorsport Win Important Battle in Diesel Wars.

Charles Oladeji.

The long awaited test of the Audi’s R15 Plus at the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours race took place last weekend with Audi, to the surprise of many observers shutting Peugeot’s powerful  908 HDi’s out of top 3 positions.  Audi’s success at this level of endurance racing is not so much a surprise having won the race eight times previously.  However, what seemed most intriguing is how Dr Ullrich’s team managed to overwhelm the seemingly dominant diesel powered Peugeots, who had hitherto appeared unstoppable.

The initial impression given was that Peugeot would once again win in the battle of the big diesel engines at this Le Mans, having gained momentum over the season and having dominated qualifying.  The French had all four LMP class at the top of the grid.    

Audi Motorsport team and Team Boss Dr Wolfgang Ullrich must draw maximum satisfaction from this win at the Le Mans 8.4 Mile circuit, having completely shut the HDi’s out from any podium positions.

Prior to this race, the R15 Plus had lost its first real test against Peugeot at  Spa Francochamp.  The Audi R15 of Rockenfeller, Bernhard and Dumas won Le Mans 24 hours with 397 laps followed by Lotterer, Fassler , Truluyer and Kristensen, Capello , McNish for Audi Sport Team Joest with 396 and 394 laps respectively