Le Mans, June 19th, 2005
230,000 spectators watch fifth Le Mans victory of the Audi R8
The last start of the Audi R8 in the Le Mans 24 Hour race could hardly
have been more impressive: Tom Kristensen (Denmark), JJ Lehto
(Finland) and Marco Werner (Germany) clinched the fifth victory of the Audi
R8 in the French endurance classic in what will be remembered as one
of the most fiercely contested races in the history of the event.
A record crowd of 230,000 spectators saw a stunning demonstration of
Audi’s corporate slogan "Vorsprung durch Technik”. Whilst ambient
temperatures of 35 degrees caused a high attrition rate amongst the 49
cars entered, the three Audi R8 sportscars of Audi’s importer teams from
the USA and France ran immaculately throughout the 24 hours. Thus, the
Audi drivers were able to overcome the handicap imposed by the
regulations. Although the three Audi R8 cars were not the fastest
contenders in the field, they clinched first, third and fourth position thanks
to their reliability and their constant run to the finish.
Tom Kristensen writes a new chapter in Le Mans history
Tom Kristensen, JJ Lehto and Marco Werner didn’t put a foot wrong, too,
during the 24 hour race, thus helping Team ADT Champion Racing to
celebrate its first victory at Le Mans – and the first one for an American
team since 1967. In addition, Audi works driver Tom Kristensen opened a
new chapter in Le Mans history: the Danish driver won arguably the
toughest race in the world for a record seventh time thus surpassing
previous record holder Jacky Ickx. JJ Lehto won the Le Mans 24 Hour race
for the second time after his inaugural win in 1995. For Marco Werner, a
dream came true when he scored his first Le Mans victory in only his
fourth attempt.
First triumph for an American team since 1967
The driver combination of Lehto/Kristensen/Werner which won the
Sebring 12 Hour race in the USA at the beginning of the season led the
race from the fourth hour to the finish. Tom Kristensen performed
miracles: as the advantage over the second-placed Pescarolo-Judd had
come down to less than one lap on Sunday at noon, Kristensen stayed in
the cockpit for a stint of three and a half hours so as to avoid one more
driver change in order to save time.
Frank Biela (Germany), Allan McNish (Scotland) and Emanuele Pirro
(Italy) finished third in the "American” Audi R8 sister car.
Biela/McNish/Pirro lost their chance to fight for overall victory on Sunday
morning due to a puncture, causing a run-off that necessitated a change
of the front right suspension. Audi PlayStation Team ORECA from France
had to change the right front suspension twice. Jean-Marc Gounon,
Franck Montagny and Stéphane Ortelli who all hail from France still came
home fourth.
Out of a total of six starts since 2000, the Audi R8 has won the Le Mans
24 Hour race five times. "This is a fantastic result," said Dr Martin
Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of AUDI AG, who had green-flagged
the race at 16.00 hours the previous day as Honorary Starter. "There is no
way for a more impressive demonstration of the slogan ‚Vorsprung durch
Technik’ in motorsport than at Le Mans. To clinch the fifth Le Mans victory
in more difficult conditions than in previous years is a remarkable feat. It
was only possible thanks to the unique reliability of the Audi R8.
Congratulations to the members of Audi Sport, to the team of Audi USA
and, of course, to Tom Kristensen who is now finally the ‘King of Le
Mans’. This weekend, we have seen once more the excitement and the
worldwide interest in the Le Mans race. Hence we want to continue
meeting this challenge in the future. It is no secret that a new sports
prototype is under development at Audi Sport for the 2006 season.
However, we will define the details of our motorsport programme for next
year in the autumn.”
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