Istanbul, November 13, 2005
The Audi R8 has claimed second place and thus another podium result
on its last competitive race in Europe. Allan McNish and Stéphane Ortelli
brought the Audi PlayStation Team Oreca R8 home 69-seconds behind
the winning Pescarolo prototype in the fifth and final round of the Le Mans
Endurance Series (LMES) at Istanbul Park (Turkey). The whole 6-hours
were run in wet, but ever-changing conditions. One moment the track was
almost flooded, causing the cars to aquaplane, later the track was drying
but still damp. McNish/Ortelli started from fourth position on the grid after
a dry qualifying session. In the race they were able to fight for the lead
which changed several times. At the penultimate pit-stop, the ORECA
team decided to save time and not change tyres. But with the rain easing
the Audi, running on worn "wet” tyres on a drying track, was powerless to
prevent the Pescarolo, utilising its fresher "rubber” to the full, from
re-taking the lead with one hour to go.
The LMES finale brought the curtain down on the Audi R8’s European
race activity. New technical regulations come into force for the Le Mans 24
Hours and the Le Mans Series in 2006. Since making its race debut in
2000, the Audi R8 has scored 61 outright race victories from 77 races –
including five Le Mans 24 Hour victories. Despite power and weight
restrictions being imposed on the Audi R8 in the 2005 LMES season,
McNish/Ortelli were able to score one victory and two second places from
three races.
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