Audi celebrates 100th LMP overall victory with Austin win

Audi achieved a historic milestone on the Texan debut of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at Austin. The squad of Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich celebrated the 100th overall victory of an LMP sports car of the brand.

With an air temperature
of 28-degrees centigrade and track temperature of 45 in Texas, Audi managed the next top performance, as the brand remains unbeaten in the current WEC season. Loic Duval/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish (F/DK/GB) celebrated their third WEC victory this year on the demanding 'Circuit of the Americas'. The trio had previously won the season opener at Silverstone and the Le Mans 24 Hours. The number '2' Audi R18 e-tron quattro crossed the finish line with a 23.617-second advantage in front of challenger Toyota. For the brand with the four rings, this marked an amazing fifth victory in an equal number of WEC rounds this year and the sixth LMP win in succession, if the triumph at the Sebring 12 Hours in March is included in the tally.

In addition to driving skills, tactical intelligence was crucial, as - contrary to common practice at other events - not every tyre change was accompanied by a driver change. As a result, the Audi drivers remaining in the cockpit immediately and consistently converted the reserves of the tyres from partner Michelin into excellent lap times, as they were able to continue their race rhythm unchanged.

The successful run of car number '2' was contrasted by massive misfortune of the number '1' car driven by Marcel Fassler/Andre Lotterer/Benoit Treluyer (CH/D/F). Right in the early phase of the six-hour race, Fässler became entangled in several tough position battles. Among others, the number '8' Toyota received a warning for the action. This subsequently resulted in a whole series of setbacks. Audi was forced to change the damaged rear diffusor of the R18 e-tron quattro. The hard impact following a collision additionally caused an electrical fuse to come loose. As a result, the electrical gearshift of the transmission could not be operated at times and the problem had to be corrected during an additional stop. To top things off, a piece of loose artificial turf got stuck on the car's underbody during an evasive off-track manoeuvre in the commotion. The mechanics removed it during a pit stop, as the piece of turf obstructed the flow of cooling air. Benoit Treluyer subsequently started a recovery, drove the fastest race lap but, in the process, ran over the track boundaries once. Thus, to make matters worse, car number '1' received a drive-through penalty. In the end, last year's World Champions had to settle for third place at Austin.

In the standings, the Austin winners increased their lead. Duval/Kristensen/McNish had arrived in Texas with a 22-point advantage and are now travelling to the next round in Japan with a 33-point advantage. On October 20, the sixth of eight rounds in the FIA World Championship (WEC) will take place at Fuji.

Posted in: 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship,Allan McNish,Andre Lotterer,Audi,Audi Motorsport,Austin,Benoit Treluyer,Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich,Loic Duval,Marcel Fassler,Motor Sports,North America,Tom Kristensen