Audi Motorsports ‘home of quattro’ Sebring Debut R18 e-tron

• Audi motorsports makes Sebring the ‘home of quattro’.
• First race for the Audi R18 e-tron quattro in the USA.
• Sendoff event for LMP1 course with historic car exhibit.
• DOCTOR Wolfgang Ullrich: “Emotional race weekend”.

At the “Home of Quattro” Sebring, Florida, Audi brought the debut of the Audi R18 e-tron quattro. It is a launching and a sendoff at the same time: the Audi R18 e-tron quattro contests the 12-hour race at Sebring (Florida) in the USA for the initial time on March 16 and, in doing this, makes the fabulous racetrack ‘home of quattro’. At the very same time, it is provisionally the LMP1 sports car’s final look in the North American endurance classic.

As a good result, events come full circle for Audi in Florida: in 1999, the brand name’s initial LMP sports car celebrated its beginning at Sebring– now two LMP1 recreations cars via the four rings provisionally contest a race here for the last time. After Audi client auto racing’s winning start to the season via the one-two finish for the Audi R8 GRAND-AM in the 24-hour race at Daytona, Audi now targets yet another victory in the USA– in spite of difficult problems as the race autos from the American Le Mans Series enjoy several conveniences with regard to weight and engine power.

In the THIRTEEN outings to day in the sports car classic at Sebring, Audi has declared 22 podium surfaces, consisting of ten total success. 3 Audi drivers, Michele Alboreto/Dindo Capello/Stefan Johansson, installed the podium at the premiere on March 20, 1999. The Dane Tom Kristensen is the race’s most effective motorist via 6 wins. Marco Werner holds the lap document at Sebring, the trio Dindo Capello/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish the proximity report.

Audi Sport Team Joest industries 2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro prototypes. The current World Endurance Champions and Le Mans champions Marcel Fässler (CH) and Benoît Tréluyer (F), who are assisted by Oliver Jarvis (GIGABYTES) at Sebring, drive an R18 from 2012. Lucas di Grassi (BR), Tom Kristensen (DK) and Allan McNish (GB) begin in the brand-new R18 e-tron quattro from 2013, which commemorates its race beginning at Sebring.

The Sebring raceverytrack is located on a former military airfield, which Audi improves in to the ‘home of quattro’ this year and consequently gets the strands of an effective chapter of motorsport history: for the very first time considering that 1989, when motorists like Hans-Joachim Stuck and Walter Röhrl raced from success to victory with the Audi 90 quattro in the IMSA-GTO series, Audi Sport contests a factory occasion in the USA with a racecar furnished with four-wheel drive. The Audi R18 e-tron quattro is the very first hybrid sports car to gain the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Its front wheels are powered electrically and thus make the R18 an unique kind of quattro.

Exhibit with gaining automobiles highlighting Audi’s motorsport history.

Audi traditionally utilizes its participation in sport models to test brand-new innovations for future applications in manufacturing cars. The followers at Sebring could find this for themselves by plunging into a trip in time with the brand’s previous sports car eras. The exhibit reveals an Audi R8 (ALMS winner 2002), an Audi R10 TDI (Sebring winner 2007), an Audi R15 TDI (Sebring champion 2009) and an Audi R18 TDI (Sebring winner 2012).

In addition to the energetic manufacturing plant motorists, the previous Audi motorists and Sebring winners Frank Biela, Dindo Capello, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner are also existing and will certainly be signing autographs, posing for photos and offering interviews for the supporters. Hence, Audi many thanks the passionate sports car supporters in the USA for their long-standing support to the brand. “Without a shadow of a question it’ll be an emotional race weekend break for us since Sebring and its superb followers take pleasure in a really special condition in both our motorsport and LMP history,” states Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich.”.

In contrast to in 2012, the American Le Mans Series season opener is not a component of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The 2013 WEC period starts a month later April 14 with the 6-hour race at Silverstone, Great Britain.

As a result, events come full cycle for Audi in Florida: in 1999, the brand’s very first LMP sports car celebrated its premiere at Sebring– now two LMP1 recreations automobiles via the four rings provisionally oppose a race here for the last time. After Audi customer auto racing’s gaining start to the season via the one-two surface for the Audi R8 GRAND-AM in the 24-hour race at Daytona, Audi now targets an additional success in the USA– regardless of hard ailments as the race cars from the American Le Mans Series take pleasure in a number of advantages via respect to weight and engine power.

Audi Sport Team Joest fields 2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro prototypes. The Sebring raceverytrack is located on a previous military airfield, which Audi improves into the ‘home of quattro’ this year and for that reason chooses up the strings of a successful chapter of motorsport history: for the initial time because 1989, when drivers like Hans-Joachim Stuck and Walter Röhrl competed from triumph to victory with the Audi 90 quattro in the IMSA-GTO series, Audi Sport contests a manufacturing facility event in the USA with a racecar prepared with four-wheel drive. The event reveals an Audi R8 (ALMS winner 2002), an Audi R10 TDI (Sebring champion 2007), an Audi R15 TDI (Sebring champion 2009) and an Audi R18 TDI (Sebring winner 2012).

Sebring History:

All winners of the 12 hours of Sebring (since 2000) 

2000 Frank Biela/Tom Kristensen/Emanuele Pirro (Audi)
2001 Laurent Aiello/Michele Alboreto/Dindo Capello (Audi)
2002 Dindo Capello/Johnny Herbert/Christian Pescatori (Audi)
2003 Frank Biela/Philipp Peter/Marco Werner (Audi)
2004 Frank Biela/Pierre Kaffer/Allan McNish (Audi)
2005 Tom Kristensen/JJ Lehto/Marco Werner (Audi)
2006 Dindo Capello/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish (Audi)
2007 Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro/Marco Werner (Audi)
2008 Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas/Emmanuel Collard (Porsche)
2009 Dindo Capello/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish (Audi)
2010 Anthony Davidson/Marc Gené/Alexander Wurz (Peugeot)
2011 Loïc Duval/Nicolas Lapierre/Olivier Panis (Peugeot)
2012 Dindo Capello/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish (Audi)