Detroit - September 1, 2007
20th consecutive LM P1 victory for Audi
In the tenth race of the American Le Mans Series on the new street circuit
in Detroit (US state of Michigan), Audi demonstrated their impressive
performance of modern diesel engine technology. The Audi R10 TDI of
Emanuele Pirro (Italy) and Marco Werner (Germany) was in the lead until
four laps before the end of the 2:45 hours of the race. In an exciting battle
it was beaten by a lighter Porsche of the LM P2 category by only 5.9
seconds.
Exciting debut on the street circuit in Detroit
Dindo Capello (Italy) and Allan McNish (Scotland) in the "sister” Audi
completed an excellent team performance with third place overall and
second in LM P1. With that Audi celebrated the 20th consecutive victory in
the LM P1 category, the "king class” of the Le Mans prototypes and
secured two races before the end of the season the Manufacturers title for
the eighth time.
Audi wins Manufacturers title for the eighth time in a row
The two Audi R10 TDI sportscars, which started the race from the fourth
row, gave the fans an impressive show. In the first hour of the race Marco
Werner had to come to the pits for a stop-and-go-penalty but still climbed
back to the third position. Emanuele Pirro, who took over the cockpit
during a full-course-yellow, demonstrated at the restart the power of his
Audi R10 TDI and went directly to the head of the field. For the final 35
laps, he had a hard battle with Romain Dumas (Porsche) and defended
his lead until lap 102 of 106. When Dumas went in the lead, both cars
touched slightly. Pirro re-took the lead but after short time but at the end
he was ultimately beaten by less than six seconds.
Quotes after the race
Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport)
"We saw another dramatic ALMS race. After Mosport we thought that it
could not be closer. To lose the overall victory three minutes before the
end after a long lead hurts of course. But on the other side we did not
expect to fight against the lighter LM P2 cars for the victory on this street
circuit, especially after the qualifying. The race performance and the
strategy of the team were very good. Our drivers demonstrated once more
the meaning of Audi TDI power.”
Emanuele Pirro (Audi R10 TDI #2)
"It was a great race. Dumas was quicker in the end. I tried everything what
I have learned in 30 years of motor racing, but I didn’t want to play dirty. I
had a lot of pick up and I unfortunately could not do more in the last laps.
Audi and TDI technology did a wonderful job today, this is a fantastic
result and I am satisfied.”
Marco Werner (Audi R10 TDI #2)
"A big thank to Audi and the team of Champion Racing. Our pit crew did a
superb job for us. The Audi R10 TDI was very good, my stint was okay.
Unfortunately we lost the race in the last five minutes - we almost had the
victory in our pockets.”
Dindo Capello (Audi R10 TDI #1)
"Having taken over from Allan after the restart I was baulked. The leading
Porsche of [Romain] Dumas was slow at the green flag which slowed
[Chris] Dyson and me enabling Emanuele [Pirro] to take a clean run from
fourth behind me and into the lead. For almost the next 30mins, Dyson
was defending third place very hard and that cost the #1 Audi any hope of
overall honours. It was then a case of ensuring another good LM P1
points score for the championship.”
Allan McNish (Audi R10 TDI #1)
"Second and third places overall for Audi on possibly the least suited
circuit for our R10 TDI is a positive result. We were much more
competitive in the race than had been expected partly due to us being
good in traffic. I had grabbed the lead 10mins before I pitted to Dindo
during a full course yellow but we encountered a nut problem on the front
left wheel which cost us valuable seconds and dropped us into the pack.”
Dave Maraj (Team Director Audi Sport North America)
"For the third consecutive race it looked as if Audi could get back on to the
top step of the winner’s podium which, considering the nature of this
track, was a creditable achievement. But once again we found ourselves
being pipped in the closing minutes and it was a case of second place
overall once again for us. It was a tremendously close and exciting race at
a superb facility and another LM P1 1-2 finish for Audi Sport North
America which earns Audi the Manufacturers’ title to go with the Team’s
award we got in the previous race.”
The results at Detroit
|