Long Beach - April 19, 2008
In the 25th race of the Audi R10 TDI, the car scored a historic 1-2
victory at the Long Beach (California) round of the American Le Mans
Series. After the success at St Petersburg a fortnight ago, the
diesel-powered sportscar won a street race for the second time in a
row. With Lucas Luhr/Marco Werner taking their personal as well as
Audi’s second win in three races in 2008, the German works drivers
extended their lead in the championship standings.
Having started from sixth position on the grid after a tight qualifying
session, Lucas Luhr improved to fourth position at the wheel of the #2
Audi R10 TDI in the early laps of the 100-minute race. When the German
driver was due to hand the car over to his team-mate, he held second
position. Marco Werner returned on ninth overall position into the race
after a full pit stop including the driver change.
Meanwhile, Frank Biela who had started from seventh place improved to
sixth position that he held throughout his stint. In lap 43, he was due for
his pit stop including a driver change to Emanuele Pirro. Only two lap
later, however, debris on the track caused a full course yellow period of
four laps. With more than half the race gone, Audi didn’t seem to be the
likely winner.
However, both Marco Werner and Emanuele Pirro made best use of the
Audi TDI power and grabbed back position after position. In lap 57, Marco
Werner passed Porsche driver Romain Dumas and took the lead.
After a third and final safety car phase between lap 58 to lap 60,
Emanuele Pirro overtook Romain Dumas as well and completed the Audi
1-2 victory. In 25 races, the Audi R10 TDI has scored 15 victories so far,
emphasizing its strenghts once again even on a type of circuit it has never
been designed for.
Quotes after the race at Long Beach
Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport)
"Audi Sport and the team of Audi Sport North America can be really proud
of this success. The Audi R10 TDI has not been developed with street
circuits in mind. So it is all the more a great performance that we
succeeded in clinching two consecutive races on this type of track. There
is no better finish we could have wished for on the 25th anniversary race
of the R10 TDI.”
Lucas Luhr (Audi R10 TDI #2)
"It is a tremendous success for us, for Audi, for Team Champion and for
Audi Sport North America. I think our boss Dr Ullrich is be delighted as
well. The 1-2 finish was the icing on the cake. It was a thrilling race.
Towards the end, Marco drove such a strong race that I could hardly
watch – I had to turn away from the screens. This was fantastic. Marco
and myself both felt a bit sick in the stomach so victory feels even
sweeter.”
Marco Werner (Audi R10 TDI #2)
"It was a fantastic race for Audi. We have been very happy after last year’s
result. This is what we wanted although we didn’t expect it. After
qualifying, we knew that it would become very hard. But it was okay.
Thanks to TDI power, we have set the pace on the straights and we
managed to clinch position after position so we won the race. I want to
thank everybody.”
Frank Biela (Audi R10 TDI #1)
"A superb result for Audi. After qualifying, you wouldn’t have necessarily
expected a 1-2 finish. It was quite tight in qualifying so we have hoped for
a good result, but I wouldn’t have put my money on it. Both cars worked
well. In the first ten minutes, I was struggling a little bit with tyre
temperatures and grip but then it worked out perfectly for the remainder of
my one-hour stint. We worked our way through the field during several
caution periods.”
Emanuele Pirro (Audi R10 TDI #1)
"I was never very good in history but I think it is exceptional that we scored
two consecutive wins for Audi on two street circuits. Especially here, it
was great as I like the circuit and I have enjoyed the race very much. We
haven’t been very strong at the beginning but later on we got much
stronger and drove a good race. I’m really pleased especially as we did a
1-2. Such a result in this series is really nice.”
Dave Maraj (Director Audi Sport Team North America)
"It was a great team effort by everybody. The drivers did a great job. Also,
we had a very good strategy. To win here was very difficult. But to come
home 1-2 was really a surprise to me. Congratulations to the whole
team.”
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