Ingolstadt, January 22, 2002
In the 2002 season, AUDI AG faces one of the biggest challenges in motor racing: after
two consecutive victories, Audi Sport Team Joest starts the legendary Le Mans 24 Hour
race on 15 and 16 June 2002, trying to achieve a hat-trick.
The Audi works team will be strengthened by Johnny Herbert. The former Formula 1
driver and Le Mans winner will team up with Rinaldo Capello and Christian Pescatori at
Le Mans and the 12 Hours at Sebring. The Briton got to know the undeniable advantages
of the Audi R8 in the past season as driver of the Audi customer team Champion. Since
then, he is convinced: „The R8 is simply a wonderful car. You can drive it on the limit from
the first to the last lap – and this is exactly what I like.“ Herbert replaces Frenchman
Laurent Aiello who will concentrate fully on the German Touring Car Masters (DTM).
The Le Mans and Sebring team - Frank Biela, Tom Kristensen and Emanuele Pirro
According to the slogan „never change a winning team“, the winning trio of the past two
Le Mans races comprising of Frank Biela, Tom Kristensen and Emanuele Pirro will
continue to form a line-up at Le Mans and in the Sebring 12 Hour classic. Should
Biela/Kristensen/Pirro win Le Mans again, Audi would add a further chapter to the history
of motorsport: never before has an unchanged driver combination won the French
endurance classic three times in a row.
„Our aim is very ambitious: We want to win the Le Mans race for a third consecutive time
in order to finally get the historic trophy to Ingolstadt“, says Audi Head of Sport Dr
Wolfgang Ullrich.
Frank Biela and title holder Emanuele Pirro will team for the ALMS again
In the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), Audi will also defend its titles in the
constructors’, drivers’ and teams’ standings. After the season opener on 16 March at
Sebring, Audi Sport North America contests the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) with
their proven driver line-ups: Frank Biela and title holder Emanuele Pirro share the cockpit
of the Infineon Audi R8 with start number 1 whilst Rinaldo Capello and Tom Kristensen
will drive the sister car.
The Infineon Audi R8, which has already achieved 20 victories, is one of the most
successful sports racing cars in the history of motor racing and will be improved in detail
for the 2002 season. „The car and the new FSI engine still have potential that we want to
exploit“, declares Dr Ullrich.
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