Audi R15 dominates first day of Sebring testing
LMP1 testing at 12 Hours of Sebring – Click above for high-res image gallery
See that blurry race car behind the Peugeot 908HDi in the above image? That's the new Audi R15, and when the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race gets underway this weekend, don't expect these two cars to be in this order very often. After Monday's first full day of official testing at Sebring, Audi's third-generation Le Mans racer, the R15, proved that it was the car to beat. Audi is fielding two R15s this year, and the No. 2 car driven by dream team Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Dindo Capello scorched the field yesterday with a fast lap of 1:43.596. That was a full half second quicker than the other Audi R15 driven by Marco Werner, Lucas Luhr and Mike Rockenfeller, and 1.406 seconds quicker than the fastest Peugeot. Acura is also joining Audi and Peugeot in the top LMP1 class this year, though its cars fielded by two private teams were another 0.1 and 0.8 seconds slower than the Peugeots.
Coverage of the 12 Hours of Sebring will begin this Saturday at 10:00 AM EST on SPEED, so let your spouse know now that you need a half day of no chores, family visits or slacks shopping. Also don't forget to set the mood by watching the premier of Truth in 24 on ESPN this Friday.
Gallery: LMP1 testing at 12 Hours of Sebring
[Source: americanlemans.com, Autosport]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
dukeisduke 5:20PM (3/17/2009)
Man, I wish their was an easier way to download all of these pictures (like a zip file of all the hi-res versions). My new screensaver.
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Steve 9:24PM (3/17/2009)
I definitely agree with this. I've spent far too much time dragging and dropping R15 photos in the last couple weeks. Could we do this autoblog?
superman211 10:03PM (3/17/2009)
I knew this car would just KILL!
imirk 5:28PM (3/17/2009)
Interesting that #2 has a different set of dive planes...
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imirk 5:31PM (3/17/2009)
humm but not in the first two pictures (the ones of part of the field)
Nick 5:36PM (3/17/2009)
For us who are not in the know, what is fast those cars or F1 cars?
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Carlos 5:54PM (3/17/2009)
F1
Alex 5:56PM (3/17/2009)
An F1 is faster, but both cars are built for totally different purposes. An F1 is built for a 2-3 hour race, with many short pit stops to refuel. These are built for endurance racing, thus they are made to race for 12-24h (its not rare for a car to come in the pits for 20 min to go back out and still do good in the standings). They also race shorter races in american end eurpoean le mans series.
Chase 6:04PM (3/17/2009)
F1s are waaay faster, but would explode if they were driven as long as endurance racers. LMP cars also have fractions of the budgets of F1 cars.
Sean Morris 6:09PM (3/17/2009)
F1 are faster but they don't race for 12 hours at a time.
Tom Winch 7:19PM (3/17/2009)
@ Chase "F1s are waaay faster, but would explode if they were driven as long as endurance racers. LMP cars also have fractions of the budgets of F1 cars."
F1 cars are quicker than LMP-1 cars, but not by much, and their top speeds are nearly the same. There are many ex-F1 drivers in ALMS and Le Mans racing and they all agree that LMP-1 cars are the closest thing to driving an F1 car. Le Mans racing (in the P1 and P2 classes) is also the most technologically advanced form of racing outside of Formula 1.
On another note, Audi dominating the time sheets is no surprise, they just work harder than anyone else to achieve the goals they set for the team. Once you watch Truth In 24 you'll see what I mean.
nagmashot 5:03AM (3/18/2009)
F1 cars are build for sprint races thats correct but technical they could easy drive a 12h race with good chance to see the finish.. this season F1 teams have to use a engine/tranny for 3 complete GP weekends befor they are allowed to replace it...
means a F1 drivetrain is build to survive
3 x 300km race
3 x time free practis
3 x qualyfing
3 x warm up
with large fuel tanks a 2009 F1 could easy join a 12h endurance race... the only problem is F1 cars have no lights for night driving...
chewy 4:00PM (3/18/2009)
nagmashot
The past two years the Sebring winner has driven more than 2,000 kilometers in the race. And ALMS teams do about about 30+ laps of testing every day during the week. So that's over 600 kilometers of testing/practice during the week.
Endurance racing is very different from F1.
Carlos 5:54PM (3/17/2009)
That R15 is one sexy car!
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darkstardk 5:55PM (3/17/2009)
finally BMW is in the game!
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dukeisduke 6:07PM (3/17/2009)
I can't wait 'til Saturday gets here. Daytona 500, hell. ALMS is real racing.
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Raz 8:14PM (3/17/2009)
Expected from Audi. Great job. Cant wait to watch the race.
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Adam J 8:43PM (3/17/2009)
I'll be there Fri. and Sat. Can't wait :)
The sound that comes out of that Audi is amazing...it's like a hum, almost electric car-like. Probably the quietest car at the race.
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Steve 9:23PM (3/17/2009)
I have to admit, I was a little worried for Audi after Peugeot gave them such a run last year. Glad to see the new R15 is up to the task. Can't wait for the Truth in 24 airing.
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Alejandro 2:49AM (3/18/2009)
I guess the saying still holds true....
"Audi doesn't race, they dominate!"
I hope to watch the R15 at Infineon Raceway at the end of the season. Go Audi!!!
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