Nürburg, 24 May 2009
The new GT3 sports car of AUDI AG successfully passed the ultimate
3,933 kilometres endurance test: In the fastest 24-hour race the
Nürburgring has ever seen, all four Audi R8 LMS cars that started to
the race crossed the finish line. Christian Abt, Jean-François
Hemroulle, Pierre Kaffer and Lucas Luhr (Team ABT Sportsline)
clinched an unexpected second place in front of 235,000 spectators
(throughout the weekend) and grabbed victory right away in the GT3
class for the Audi R8 LMS at its first 24-hour run.
"For the Audi R8 LMS, this race represented a final test under extreme
conditions on the world’s longest race track,” said Head of Audi
Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "We were able to demonstrate that our
new GT3 sports car is absolutely competitive for customer sport. And the
number 97 R8 LMS ran without the slightest problems despite the
incredible speed.”
Up to a few hours before the finish there was even a sensation in the air
at the Nürburgring: Marc Basseng, Mike Rockenfeller and Frank Stippler
in the Audi R8 LMS #99 of Team Phoenix Racing were leading the race
for almost 17 hours before the car – at 11:21 am in the Karussell circuit
sector – stopped due to a defect in the power transmission system. After
replacing the right rear suspension and the drive shaft, the three
Germans were able to continue the race with a six-lap gap and – in the
end – managed clinching the fifth place.
Frank Biela, Marcel Fässler, Emanuele Pirro and Hans-Joachim Stuck
(Audi R8 LMS #98/Phoenix Racing) in twelfth place merely missed a
place among the top ten. A stop-and-go penalty cost the seasoned
campaigners three minutes as early as in the starting phase. During the
night a leaking cooler of the power steering system had to be exchanged,
which cost about 30 minutes. At noon on Sunday, car number 98 was
back in the top six before the gearbox had to be replaced.
Mattias Ekström, Timo Scheider and Marco Werner (Aud R8 LMS
#100/Team ABT Sportsline) suffered a particular case of misfortune.
Their vehicle was hit in the rear right at the start, crushing the right-hand
tailpipe in the process. Shortly afterwards, the engine stopped. After an
extensive effort to find the source of the problem, the mechanics
discovered a defective plug which had caused a short circuit and resulted
in an overloading of the CAN bus on-board system.
From 166th place, Ekström, Scheider and Werner recovered to 23rd
despite stopping a second time on the Nordschleife during the night due
to a fuel supply system problem and, later, a component of the right rear
suspension had to be fixed.
"We’ll analyze the problems that occurred on the three other vehicles and
feed the findings into the final version of the R8 LMS, which will be
delivered to customers starting this fall,” said Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "We
now know that we’ve got a very good base.”
"None of us really expected us to immediately clinch a podium result
here,” said Audi "factory” driver Lucas Luhr after the finish of the race.
"Putting a new car on the podium in its first run at a 24-hour race is an
achievement you’ve simply got to take your hat off to.”
Quotes after the race.
Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport)
"For the Audi R8 LMS, this race was a final test under extreme conditions
on the world’s longest race track. We were able to show that our new GT3
sports car is absolutely competitive for customer sport. And the number
97 Audi R8 LMS ran without the slightest problems despite the incredibly
high speed. We’re going to analyze the problems that occurred on the
other three vehicles and feed the findings into the final version of the R8
LMS to be delivered to customers starting this fall. We know that we’ve got
a very good base.”
Christian Abt (Audi R8 LMS #97/Team ABT Sportsline)
"I’m very proud because I’ve been involved in the GT3 vehicle
development from the outset. Being one of the drivers standing on the
podium at the 24-hour race is really special. I’m totally happy. We’ve said
from the beginning that we’d opt for a strategy. That’s exactly what we did
and always remained within a striking distance nevertheless. We’re
totally happy with second place.”
Jean-François Hemroulle (Audi R8 LMS #97/Team ABT Sportsline)
"We maintained a constant pace throughout the race. I think that was the
right decision. The car was always in perfect condition. Clinching podium
here at the first run of the R8 LMS is a perfect start for Audi.”
Pierre Kaffer (Audi R8 LMS #97/Team ABT Sportsline)
"We’re very happy. Audi created a very good base for the R8. The ABT
Sportsline team converted it into action in a superb way. I can only thank
Audi and ABT for letting me take part in this project at this fantastic race. It
was a tremendous experience driving the same car with such great
teammates. The entire crew did a great job. I thank everyone very much
for this.”
Lucas Luhr (Audi R8 LMS #97/Team ABT Sportsline)
"I’m overwhelmed, totally happy and really have goose bumps. This is
really a great result for us. It’s too bad that the other cars had problems. I
think that second place is a great achievement by Audi, the ABT team and
my driver colleagues. It’s really wonderful being a part of this squad. Now,
I’m looking forward to the next 24-hour race with Audi at Le Mans.”
Marc Basseng (Audi R8 LMS #99/Phoenix Racing)
"Today we showed that Audi is a serious contender on the Nordschleife.
I’m pleased that I had the chance to contribute my endurance experience
from the Nürburgring. The way I was welcomed to this family was
sensational. I’m happy for ABT to have clinched podium. Of course
there’s also a feeling of disappointment because our car was so
powerful in the end that we’d definitely have had our say in the fight for
victory as well.”
Mike Rockenfeller (Audi R8 LMS #99/Phoenix Racing)
"We had a great weekend. Qualifying was already very good and the race
was great as well. We were able to keep the pace of the front runners at
all times and also led the race for many hours. Unfortunately, we then had
a problem with the drive shaft and only finished fifth. That’s too bad
because I think we were the fastest Audi in the race. For me, this was my
debut on the Phoenix team and it was a lot of fun. My thanks go to the
whole squad.”
Frank Stippler (Audi R8 LMS #99/Phoenix Racing)
"I think we did a decent job. Due to poor weather conditions the car did
not have the chance to run as much on the Nordschleife before the race
as we’d wanted it to so the race turned into a real test. Considering this,
we delivered a good showing and led the field for a long time. In second
place, the Abt car is close to the optimum. We know what we need to do
to improve for next year. The race was planned as a test and on the whole
we can be happy with the way things went.”
Frank Biela (Audi R8 LMS #98/Phoenix Racing)
"The result is completely okay. I think we can be very happy with our
performance. The number 99 car was able to keep the pace for a long
time and even set it as the leading vehicle. That was very important for us.
Alright, so we had a couple of problems with our new cars, but let’s face
it, it’s a 24-hour race. We all know how hard the Nordschleife is on the
cars. Second place at such a race is a fantastic achievement. That’s
something you can definitely build on.”
Marcel Fässler (Audi R8 LMS #98/Phoenix Racing)
"Unfortunately, we had a stop-and-go penalty early on that set us back.
During the night we had a cooling problem and then we had to change
the transmission as well. That was probably not the best situation. But
the base exists in any event. Audi’s got a very good and very fast car. I
hope they’ll be here again next year.”
Emanuele Pirro (Audi R8 LMS #98/Phoenix Racing)
"This was a very nice weekend for me. I returned to the Nordschleife after
18 years. It was a lot of fun. I had to learn the track again from scratch. But
during the race I felt very comfortable in this car. The positive aspect of the
race is that the car proved its speed and competitiveness from the get-go.
Of course a few minor problems still need to be resolved but for us it was
a development race. We’ve always said that. We’re taking a task list with
us from this race and loads of information. In the end, all four cars
finished. On the whole, we can be happy.”
Hans-Joachim Stuck (Audi R8 LMS #98/Phoenix Racing)
"Audi deserves a compliment for a car that made it possible to fight for
overall victory right from the start. That this didn’t work out completely is
nothing to be ashamed of. Coming to the ‘Green Hell’ – which everyone
knows is the toughest test for a new car - with a new car and finishing as
the runner-up almost equates to victory. The important thing was the
experiences we gained, which Audi Sport can now feed into the customer
cars. The whole project was a customer sport run in keeping with the
motto ‘100 years of Audi – Vorsprung durch Technik.’"
Mattias Ekström (Audi R8 LMS #100/Team ABT Sportsline)
"Driving the R8 on this track is fantastic. Of course there are always a few
minor things that can be improved but, basically, the R8 already
represents ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ in an impressive way. Of course I
had different expectations of the race than getting stranded right on the
first lap. More importantly, though, I’m happy about the podium result of
our "sister car” because I know exactly how much work and passion has
been invested in this project.”
Timo Scheider (Audi R8 LMS #100/Team ABT Sportsline)
"We saw that it’s possible to clinch a podium place with the Audi R8 LMS
right away. At such a high racing speed, this is a sensational result for us.
I want to thank Audi for enabling us to fight for podium as early as at this
debut race because that was not to be expected. I’m overjoyed that our
"sister car” made it on the podium as the runner-up. We’re going to
analyze the information and data so that next year we’ll come back even
stronger.”
Marco Werner (Audi R8 LMS #100/Team ABT Sportsline)
"We were incredibly happy to come back to the Nordschleife. Driving here
is fun, especially if you’ve got a car like the R8 LMS. It showed its
potential. Unfortunately, we had a little too much bad luck. But you also
need to be honest about it: the car has never run across such a distance
in one go. As is often the case with Audi, it was probably a very good test
run.”
Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Team ABT Sportsline)
"I think this is a sensational result for Audi as well as for us. We knew that
we’d be competing with very tough rivals. For 24 hours, it was an
incredibly close race. Achieving such a result with the R8, the new vehicle,
on the Nordschleife at the world’s toughest race as it’s called, is a feat on
which you can only congratulate everyone who was involved in developing
this car.”
Ernst Moser (Teamchef Phoenix Racing)
"We didn’t dominate the race but experienced a duel. But most of the time
we were in front. It was tremendously exciting and enjoyable.
Unfortunately, the ‘defect devil’ struck once. But now that’s water down the
river. We need to learn from our mistakes and then we’ll be at the very top.
The car can do it, the team can do it, and the brand can do it. So we’ll be
able to do it too.”
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