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Originally Posted by AGD
Yeah, it would be interesting to know the circumstances of that statement. Perhaps Audi thought that there would not be a serious petrol contender during the expected lifespan of the R18 (or at least of the engine) and so they decided to do what marketing wanted (diesel) since they could win with whatever they chose to do and all they would have to beat is Peugeot and they have the same disadvantage. Also, maybe they figure that they will never be at a rules disadvantage as long as they choose what Peugeot chooses. In other words, if a serious petrol team did come in, maybe the rules would change again to balance or favor the diesels if that is what Peugeot is running.
As far as the ALMS is concerned, isn't Porsche a supporter of the ALMS' new media platform? It is interesting that Porsche sort of announced this program through YouTube. Anyway, that does not mean anything in regard to whether the Porsche LMP1 will compete in the ALMS, but the media platform as such may not prohibit them from doing so if they are supporters of it. I would say it is unlikely that there will be a Porsche factory team in the ALMS full-time, but who knows. Maybe Neiman or someone can talk Porsche into providing a customer car or something.
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I asked the question directly of Chris Reinke who is Technical Project leader of the R18 programme. His answer was direct that a full works Petrol would be 'without a doubt' quicker. The impression all group got was that the answers to our questions were very honest - however who knows?
Later in the interview he was asked a similar question about whether they would switch to Hybrid. The answer was that the decision would be performance led and not marketing led and they would only switch when they were sure such a car would be faster and reliable. This answer somewhat contradicts the first as if the decisions are made purely for performance reasons and not marketing ones why haven't they switched to petrol if they consider it faster?