Le Mans - June 17, 2007



Seventh success for Audi in endurance classic
AUDI AG has continued its impressive series of victories in the Le Mans 24 Hour race in extremely difficult conditions. Frank Biela (Germany), Emanuele Pirro (Italy) and Marco Werner (Germany) repeated their success from last year thus giving Audi their seventh victory in the French endurance classic. For the second consecutive time, the Audi R10 TDI claimed victory. The revolutionary diesel sportscar from Ingolstadt remains unbeaten at Le Mans.

Audi TDI Power dominates again
In the 75th edition of the Le Mans 24 Hour race, Audi again gave an impressive proof of "Vorsprung durch Technik”. The Audi R10 TDI was the fastest and the most reliable car in the field. From the first to the last lap, one of the three diesel sportscars from Ingolstadt headed the field.

More than 260,000 spectators witnessed one of the most exciting 24 Hour races in the history of Le Mans. Changing weather conditions at the beginning claimed the Audi R10 TDI with start number 3 when Mike Rockenfeller left the rain-soaked track on his third lap and collided backwards into the armco barriers.

The impressive showing of Dindo Capello, Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish came to a premature end as well: After having controlled the race with a considerable margin for more than 16 hours, the left rear wheel of their Audi R10 TDI loosened on Sunday morning. Dindo Capello who celebrated his 43rd birthday on Sunday was behind the wheel of the car. He had no chance of avoiding the accident.

Extremely difficult conditions in jubilee race
Thus, during the last five-and-a-half hours, all hopes for Audi were left on the shoulders of the Audi R10 TDI with start number 1 of Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner. Conditions were extremely difficult owing to torrential rain in the final phase of the race, however, the established Audi drivers mastered this task with bravado. The impressive winning margin of Marco Werner over the second-placed Peugeot was ten laps at the finish line.

After its seventh Le Mans triumph, Audi has moved up to third place in the historic records during the 75th edition of the French endurance classic. Only Porsche and Ferrari have won at Le Mans more often than Audi.

"This was certainly the most difficult race that we have ever contested at Le Mans”, said Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG after the finish. "So this victory counts even more. On the race track, we have shown once more that we have the best technology, the best drivers and the best team. Everybody within Audi can be proud of this success.”

Quotes after the race at Le Mans

Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport)
"I think this was the most difficult race we ever did at Le Mans – even more difficult than the rain-soaked race in 2001. This was topped this time due to the strong competition, the many incidents and the rain in the final hours. We managed to get one car to the finish in these difficult circumstances winning against strong competitors. This was a fantastic achievement of the whole team. We wanted to prove that we have the best technology with Audi TDI Power, the best drivers and the best teams. We achieved that. This triumph shows one more time the meaning of ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’.”

Frank Biela (Audi R10 TDI #1)
"You realize a Le Mans victory only a couple of days later because you have so much stress and pressure during this race. Of course you wish that everything goes well but you can’t plan it. Something can happen anytime. To have the luck of being on the top of the podium for the fifth time is simply great. The key to success has been to attack at the right time and to be on the safe side at the right time. The pit crew has done a great job. We always had the right tyres on our car. This victory was achieved by the entire team.”

Emanuele Pirro (Audi R10 TDI #1)
"Le Mans was simply incredible this year. The two other Audis had really bad luck. They could not finish the race. After that we had enormous pressure. Behind us were the Peugeots and we had to fight hard. The last nine hours have been especially difficult. It was a tough race with some rain at the beginning which made the tyre choice complicated and heavy rain at the end. I dedicate this victory to the mechanics of all three cars. There was a great battle with Peugeot. To beat such a competitor makes our victory even sweeter. Personally I’m on the podium with Audi at Le Mans for the ninth time in a row – this is great!”

Marco Werner (Audi R10 TDI #1)
"Of course it is a great feeling to win but tomorrow for sure I will feel even better because there was gigantic pressure on our shoulders until the very end of the race. In the closing stages this Le Mans 24 Hours was more like a boat race. It was incredible that the race went green again under these conditions. I was more than relieved when I had crossed the finish line.”

Ralf Jüttner (Technical Director Audi Sport Team Joest)
"This has been a hell of a race and extremely exciting. The weather ended like it started. Fortunately there has been a long dry period in between. I see the result with two crying and one laughing eye: It’s a shame we lost two cars due to accidents. Especially the number two car showed a great performance. But of course the most important thing is that an Audi has won. We have been fighting with a big competitor and were not sure before how the balance of power would be. The race proved that Audi and Joest are a strong combination at Le Mans. And we showed that we can always up the ante in the race. This has been never become clearer than this weekend. We also proved that we can fight. A big compliment to the whole squad: Everything worked out perfectly. I’m proud of the whole team.”

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Pos No Cl Pn Team Pilotes Veh

1 1 LMP1 M Audi Sport North America BIELA F/PIRRO E/WERNER M Audi R10 TDI

2 8 LMP1 M Team Peugeot Total LAMY P/SARRAZIN S/BOURDAIS S Peugeot 908 Hdi FAP

3 16 LMP1 M Pescarolo Sport COLLARD E/BOULLION JC/DUMAS R Pescarolo Judd

4 18 LMP1 D Rollcentre Racing BARBOSA J/HALL S/SHORT M Pescarolo Judd

5 15 LMP1 M Charouz Racing CHAROUZ J/MUCKE S/YOONG A Lola B07/17 Judd

6 17 LMP1 M Pescarolo Sport PRIMAT H/TINSEAU C/TRELUYER B Pescarolo Judd

7 19 LMP1 M Chamberlain Synergy EVANS G/BERRIDGE B/OWEN P Lola B06/10 AER

8 14 LMP1 M Racing For Holland LAMMERS J/HART D/BLEEKEMOLEN J Dome S101.5 Judd

9 12 LMP1 M Courage Competition FREI A/COCHET J/BESSON B Courage LC70 AER

1 31 LMP2 K Binnie Motorsports BINNIE B/TIMPANY A/BUNCOMBE C Lola B05/40 Zytek

2 33 LMP2 M Barazi Epsilon FERNANDEZ A/KUROZAWA H/KERR R Zytek 07S/2

1 009 LMGT1 M Aston Martin Racing BRABHAM D/RYDELL R/TURNER D Aston Martin DBR9

2 63 LMGT1 M Corvette Racing O'CONNELL J/MAGNUSSEN J/FELLOWS R Corvette C6R

3 008 LMGT1 M AMR Larbre Comp. BOUCHUT C/GOLLIN F/ELGAARD C Aston Martin DBR9

4 007 LMGT1 M Aston Martin Racing ENGE T/HERBERT J/KOX P Aston Martin DBR9

5 54 LMGT1 M Team Oreca GROPPI L/PROST N/BELLOC J-P Saleen S7R

6 100 LMGT1 P AMR BMS BABINI F/DAVIES J/MALUCELLI M Aston Martin DBR9

7 72 LMGT1 M Alphand Aventures POLICAND J/GOUESLARD P/ALPHAND L Corvette C6.R

8 67 LMGT1 P Convers Menx Team VASILIEV A/KOSTKA T/PERGL R Ferrari 550 Maranello

9 55 LMGT1 M Team Oreca ORTELLI S/AYARI S/LAPIERRE N Saleen S7-R

10 59 LMGT1 M Team Modena GARCIA A/MENTEN J/FITTIPALDI C Aston Martin DBR9

11 73 LMGT1 M Alphand Aventures BLANCHEMAIN J-L/VOSSE V/ANDRE D Corvette C5-R

12 70 LMGT1 P PSI Experience SMET D/GOSSELIN CY/PETER Ph Corvette C6R

13 006 LMGT1 M AMR LaComp. BORNHAUSER P/BERVILLE R/FISKEN G Aston Martin DBR9

1 76 LMGT2 M Imsa Performance NARAC R/LIETZ R/LONG P Porsche 997 GT3 RSR

2 99 LMGT2 M Risi Competizione KROHN T/JONSSON N/BRAUN C Ferrari F430 GT

3 93 LMGT2 P Autorlando Sport SIMONSEN A/NIELSEN L.E./EHRET P Porsche 997 GT3 RSR

4 78 LMGT2 P AF Corse MACARI J/AUCOTT B/NEWEY A Ferrari F430 GT

5 82 LMGT2 P Team LNT TOMLINSON L/DEAN R/BELL R Panoz Esperante

dnf

7 LMP1 M Team Peugeot Total GENE M/MINASSIAN N/VILLENEUVE J Peugeot 908 Hdi FAP

2 LMP1 M Audi Sport North America CAPELLO R/KRISTENSEN T/McNISH A Audi R10 TDI

32 LMP2 M Barazi Epsilon BARAZI J/VERGERS M/OJJEH K Zytek 07S/2

83 LMGT2 P GPC Sport VILLAROEL J./ROSENBLAD C./MARSH M. Ferrari F430 GT

25 LMP2 M RML ERDOS T/NEWTON M/WALLACE A MG Lola EX264 AER

87 LMGT2 P Scuderia Ecosse NIARCHOS C/KIRKALDY A/MULLEN T Ferrari F430 GT

35 LMP2 M Saulnier Racing NICOLET J/FILHOL A/JOUANNY B Courage LC75 AER

97 LMGT2 M Risi Competizione SALO M/MELO J/MOWLEM J Ferrari F430 GT

24 LMP2 M Noel Del Bello PETROV V/HALLIDAY L/IANETTA R Courage LC75 AER

13 LMP1 M Courage GOUNON J-M/MOREAU G/JOHANSSON ST Courage LC70 AER

85 LMGT2 M Spyker Squadron BELICCHI A/CAFFI A/CHIESA A Spyker C8 Spyder GT2R

40 LMP2 D Quifel ASM Team AMARAL M/DE CASTRO MA/HUGHES W Lola B05/40 AER

20 LMP2 M Pierre Bruneau ROSTAN M/PICKERING G/MACALLISTER CH Pilbeam MP93 Judd

80 LMGT2 M FLM van OVERBEEK J/BERGMEISTER J/NEIMAN S Porsche 997 GT3 RSR

44 LMP2 K Kruse Motorsport BURGESS T/DE POURTALES J/SIEDLER N Pescarolo Judd

86 LMGT2 M Spyker Squadron JANIS J/HEZEMANS M/KANE J Spyker C8 Spyder GT2R

71 LMGT2 Y Seikel MCOLLIN P/FELBERMAYR H/FELBERMAYR H Jr Porsche 997 GT3 RSR

5 LMP1 M Swiss Spirit DELETRAZ J-D/FASSLER M/ALEXANDER I Lola Audi B07/10

81 LMGT2 P Team LNT KIMBER-SMITH T/WATTS D/MILNER T Panoz Esperante

29 LMP2 M T2M Motorsport LONGECHAL R/YAMAGISHI Y/TERADA Y Dome Mader S101-5

9 LMP1 D Creation CAMPBELL-WALTER J/ORTIZ F/NAKANO S Creation Judd CA07

3 LMP1 M Audi Sport Team Joest LUHR L/PREMAT A/ROCKENFELLER M Audi R10 TDI

64 LMGT1 M Corvette Racing BERETTA O/GAVIN O/PAPIS M Corvette C6R

21 LMP2 D Bruichladdich Radical GREAVES T/MOSELEY S/LIDDELL R Radical SR9 AER

53 LMGT1 Y JLOC Isao Noritake /YOGO A/YAMANISHI K Lamborghini Murcielago