Paris 26 September, 2002
The idea to run a 24 hour race in Le Mans was born in 1922 at the
Salon de l´Automobile in Paris. Eighty years later at the same place the
Automobile Club de l´Ouest (ACO), the organiser of the Le Mans 24
Hour race, have handed over the historic Le Mans trophy to AUDI AG.
“Audi is proud to be the first manufacturer in the history of the Le Mans
24 Hour race to call the Le Mans trophy its own,“ declared Dr Martin
Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board at AUDI AG, who received the
prestigious trophy from ACO President Michel Cosson.
At the beginning of the nineties the Automobile Club de l´Ouest created
the trophy, presented each year to the Le Mans winner and handed
back to the ACO before the start of the next race. At the same time, the
organiser decided that if a manufacturer won the Le Mans 24 Hours
with the same team three times in a row it could keep the trophy
forever.
The Audi Sport Team Joest succeeded in securing this hat-trick in
2000, 2001 and 2002. Hence, the trophy now is owned by AUDI AG and
in the future will be on view in the Audi museum mobile in Ingolstadt.
“In scoring three consecutive Le Mans victories Audi has achieved
something very rare and this feat goes down in the history books of the
24 hour race and automobile sport,“ said ACO President Cosson at the
trophy presentation. “The trophy will link Audi and Le Mans together
forever.“
The Audi “works” drivers, Frank Biela, Tom Kristensen and Emanuele
Pirro, who was the first driver squad to win the Le Mans 24 Hour race
three times in succession, were also honoured in Paris. “Such an
outstanding success is only reached thanks to a huge team effort,“
declared Dr Winterkorn. “My thanks go to the entire Audi team.“
The Automobile Club de l´Ouest now faces an unusual task: By the next
24 hour race on 14/15 June 2003, a new winners´ trophy must be
created.
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