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Le Mans, June 18, 2000

The 2000 Le Mans 24 Hours has produced a dream result for Audi. A dominant
victory was achieved in arguably the most difficult and demanding race in the
world in front of a 200,000 plus crowd. After triumphs in world rallying and in
touring car racing, Audi wrote a further chapter in to its already successful and

illustrious motorsport history.

In extremely hot weather conditions, Audi proved once more that the slogan,
„Vorsprung durch Technik“, the three Audi R8s for 24 hours were not only the

fastest cars in 48-car field but also the most reliable.

Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen, Chairman of the Board, Audi AG, remarked: „The
foundations for victory were laid during the conception of this fascinating race
car. Everyone who has contributed and worked on this project can really be
proud, of course the team from Audi Sport, who have developed the R8, and Audi

Sport Team Joest, who have done a perfect preparation of the race cars.“

The three Audi R8s dictated the pace from the outset. In all practice sessions
and almost during the entire race, Audi held the top three positions. With 368-
laps, the winning car completed three more laps than last year's winner. „We
could not have done any better, confirmed a delighted Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich,

Audi's Head of Sport. „We had no technical problems at all.“

Rear sections on two of the Audi R8s had to be changed but only for safety
reasons. „We did not want to take any risks“, added Dr. Ullrich. „Before this,

Audi no. 9 had a spin while no. 7 had a puncture.“

The ultimate winner, the no. 8 Audi R8 driven by Frank Biela (Germany), Tom
Kristensen (Denmark) and Emanuele Pirro (Italy), was delayed during the first
half of the race by two punctures. Apart from that, the car was running like

clockwork and was on top of the field from the 11th hour to the finish.

Frank Biela said: „The car was a dream especially considering that we did 24

hours at high speed and that we were fighting between ourselves.“

Despite Audi enjoying a big advantage, there were no team orders.

Dr. Ullrich explained: „We wanted to have a sporting fight. Our drivers had no
team orders and they all showed during the race that they were true
professionals and that they can handle a high-pressure situation. Everyone was
clear that the success should be for Audi and because of that, to me, all of the

drivers are winners.“

Behind Biela/Kristensen/Pirro, who had already won the Sebring 12 Hour race in
America three months ago, Laurent Aiello (France), Allan McNish (Britain) and
Stéphane Ortelli (France), were second with the similar Audi R8 of Christian Abt
(Germany), Michele Alboreto (Italy) and Rinaldo Capello (Italy) coming home

third.

Reinhold Joest, Director of Audi Sport Team Joest, confirmed: “This is an
outstanding achievement which makes history for Audi. Before us, only three

other works teams achieved a 1-2-3 clean sweep at Le Mans.“

The next event for the Le Mans winners is in just three weeks. The Audi R8s
race at the Nurburgring in Germany in the fourth round of the American Le Mans

Series on July 9.

Three Audis finish first, second and third
Audi R8 #7
Audi R8 driven by Tom Kristensen
Tom Kristensen, Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, Emanuele Pirro
Audi works drivers on the podium
Emanuele Pirro, Tom Kristensen, Frank Biela on the Podium
The 2000 Audi Le Mans Team
Head of Audi Sport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, Emanuele Pirro, Tom Kristensen, Frank Biela on the Podium
Chairman of board AUDI AG, Dr Franz-Josef Paefgen

The No. 8 Team

Frank Biela „I have fulfilled a dream. You do not often have the chance to fight for
victory with a fantastic car. You have to make the most of these rare
opportunities. I was thinking about Bob Wollek sometimes during the race, a

driver who has often competed at Le Mans but has never won this classic race.“

Tom Kristensen „1-2-3 for Audi is simply fantastic. The car is unbelieveably fast
and reliable. We had no problems apart from the punctures but this is Le Mans. I
have done three races so far for Joest and won three times. Le Mans 1997,
Sebring 2000 and Le Mans 2000. There must be something magic about his

team.“

Emanuele Pirro „Dr. Ullrich believed in all of his drivers and had faith in us that
we would behave professionally despite fighting for the lead with the other Audis.
Nevertheless, at the end of the race there were no hard fights and I was not on
the limit because we all knew that we needed to bring the cars home to the

finish safely.“

The No. 9 Team

Laurent Aiello „Naturally I'm a little disappointed. We had an excellent car and
three very good drivers and knew that in the end, the car that had less problems

would win. We were fastest on the track but lost too much time in the pits.“

Allan McNish „It was a sensational effort from the mechanics to change the back
of car in such a short time. We never gave up but even without a team order, it
was clear to me that we could not make up that time. Near the end, it was

pointless taking further risks.“

Stéphane Ortelli „For me the race was perfect. My car was the fastest during the
whole night but unfortunately we had some bad luck and you have to accept this
– it was important that we brought our car home, and second to another Audi,
made it a great team effort. The Audi R8 was the best car I have ever driven at Le

Mans.“

The No. 7 Team

Christian Abt „The important thing for the team is the overall result but of course
I'm a little sad that I did not win because we led the race for a long time. But last
year I only did 20 laps at Le Mans therefore third place for me has fulfilled a

dream - I think that this is my greatest success so far.“

Michele Alboreto „Since the beginning of the Audi project two years ago, we
were dreaming of this moment and now it has come true. We had a fast and
absolutely reliable car but despite that, I'm very relieved that we survived the

pressure of Le Mans which is there right up until the end.“

Rinaldo Capello „I'm very happy for the entire team. We worked so hard and
tested so much. Every single person has helped with this success - the Audi R8
was simply perfect. We had some small problems at the beginning but after this

we were without problems to the finish."

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, Audi's Head of Sport: „I'm absolutely overwhelmed. You
cannot have a better car for victory than that. I want to pay a compliment to the
entire team. We were all pulling together for this target. It went almost perfectly

for 24 hours. The little incidents which occurred are typical of Le Mans.“

Reinhold Joest, Team Director Audi Sport Team Joest: „I'm really happy to have
achieved this success together with Audi. It is a result of a good collaboration
between Audi Sport and Joest. The pit crews did perfect work, the drivers did a
perfect job. The cars were fast and reliable. Three cars in the top-three is an

outstanding success!“

1. Biela/Kristensen/Pirro (Audi R8) 368 laps
2. Aiello/McNish/Ortelli (Audi R8) - 1 lap
3. Abt/Alboreto/Capello (Audi R8) - 3 laps
4. Bourdais/Grouillard/Clerico (Courage) - 24 laps
5. Katoh/O'Connell/Raphanel (Panoz) - 26 laps
6. Suzuki/Kageyama/Kageyama (Panoz) - 28 laps
7. Beretta/Wendlinger/Dupuy (Chrysler) - 35 laps
8. Tsuchiya/Kondo/Iida (Panoz) - 38 laps
9. Donohue/Amorim/Beltoise (Chrysler) - 40 laps
10. Pilgrim/Collins/Freon (Chevrolet) - 41 laps