Audi R10

[The Badger]

I cant see Lehto getting the drive as, as you say he was contracted to Champion , I did mean Pirro , mistype , sorry !

[tblincoe]

It will be:

Kristensen/Biela/Pirro
McNish/Werner/Capello

This is McNish's year, I can feel it!

[JAG]

Nice new video:-

http://mfile.akamai.com/10940/wmv/au...o_high_cbr.asx

[The Badger]

Be interesting to see if Kristensen-Biela-Pirro could pull off another win . That would be another advertising coup for Audi as it would be another first as well as Kristensen's umpteenth win .

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by JAG

Nice new video:-

http://mfile.akamai.com/10940/wmv/au...o_high_cbr.asx

I couldnt get the video to work , but the music is louder than the car !!!

[vs346]

Wow, that video definitely epitomizes Audi/German precision! Great production value as well. All of Audi's media stuff is spot on. They spare no expense.

[jhansen]

Concerning Audi factory drivers, what would be the chances of seeing Ekstrom in the R10? He recently signed a three-year deal to stay with Audi. Although, that is mainly for DTM. He's a great young driver that I'd love to see in the R10.

This may have been discussed before, but I don't recall.

[vs346]

It's been touched on before jhansen, but I'm not bothered that we bring him up again.

I'd love to see Ekstrom (or someone else from the Audi clan) be in the R10. But realistically, it looks to be the usual suspects:

Kristensen/Biela/Pirro
McNish/Werner/Capello

They have the most experience with prototype racing and it's only fitting that they continue. If Biela and Pirro EVER retire (they were talking about it at the end of last year), it's likely we will see some DTM guys make the jump over to the R10, including Ekstrom.

[jhansen]

I guess I'm just ready for some new blood in sportscar racing. Especially at the top. I was hoping Kaffer would get a shot again. He was quick and entertaining to watch. Although, I don't know how Audi rate him, or if he's still a contracted factory driver.

Ekstrom is a great talent and could certainly shine if given the opportunity at Sebring and Lemans. I wouldn't mind seeing:

Kristensen/Capello/Kaffer
McNish/Werner/Ekstrom

[cmk]

Why on earth would last season's ALMS champs deserve to be left out of the lineup?

Really, 3 Audis are needed...JJ deserves a chance to shine in the R10 after all the effort he has put towards their profile in North America, Champion contract or not. I do agree that Kaffer should get a shot too, but it's hard to justify leaving out any of the "usual suspects". They've earned that title through honest hard work. Add in Ekstrom and you'd have 9 excellent drivers though!

[Mal]

Originally Posted by cmk

Why on earth would last season's ALMS champs deserve to be left out of the lineup?

Really, 3 Audis are needed...JJ deserves a chance to shine in the R10 after all the effort he has put towards their profile in North America, Champion contract or not. I do agree that Kaffer should get a shot too, but it's hard to justify leaving out any of the "usual suspects". They've earned that title through honest hard work. Add in Ekstrom and you'd have 9 excellent drivers though!

Why dont Audi ever put McNish and Kristenson in the same car?

[slicks]

Originally Posted by Mal

Why dont Audi ever put McNish and Kristenson in the same car?

'cos, from what I have heard (in Newspeak), 'they don't send eachother Christmas Cards'.

I will leave someone else to do the translation.

[jhansen]

Kinda like Pirro and Lehto then huh?

I dunno, I think having McNish and Kristensen in separate cars is rather good thinking.

[rdjones]

I see from DSC that Audi have confirmed there drivers for Sebring and Le Mans. There are no great suprises TBH:- Frank Biela, Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner. As yet there is no news on who will drive which car.

[TWK]

Originally Posted by rdjones

I see from DSC that Audi have confirmed there drivers for Sebring and Le Mans. There are no great suprises TBH:- Frank Biela, Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner. As yet there is no news on who will drive which car.

More importantantly, it's indicated that the entry for Sebring is Joest Racing. Where does that leave Champion, and the 2006 ALMS LMP1 team championship?

[cmk]

Out of curiousity, what effect does the Audi Sport North America usage on the entry form have on how the points are scored? If both Joest (at Sebring) and Champion (for the rest of the season) were to use ASNA as their entrance banner would the points scored by both teams be combined for the teams championship?

Just curious what the rationale behind the use of the name is, and whether it might lend clues as to the fate of Champion Racing this season.

[Hugewally]

Different entrants, different points. Somewhere along the line, someone ended up not caring about the season ending...

[jhansen]

Well, if they didn't intend on running the full season it wouldn't really matter. It's a Sebring-LeMans program. Anything else would be a surprise IMO.

[russ250575]

With audi announcing that there will be 2 R10s in the ALMS after le-mans. where does this leave the third one ? LMS with Jouest ?? ( I say the 3rd one if there is one im sure i read somewhere there is 3 of these beast's around...)

can anyone confirm any of the above ??? thx

[Dauer 962]

Although I didn’t hear of an existence of a third one, it’s very likely there will be a third one until Le Mans.

Just think : Joest is only concentrating on the R10 this year and not involved into DTM any more. Thus after Le Mans they have no job any more. Could be room for some LMS races…..

[rdjones]

Audi sent out a press release last week about there DTM program and it included the following paragraphy

Audi Sport Team Joest, which competed for Audi in the DTM over the past two seasons, will concentrate entirely on the new Audi R10 sportscar project during the 2006 season. "The goal of becoming the first automobile manufacturer to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a diesel engine is very ambitious,” says Dr Ullrich. "Our test and development programme till Le Mans is so intensive that it doesn’t allow a parallel programme in the DTM.”

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by Dauer 962

Just think : Joest is only concentrating on the R10 this year and not involved into DTM any more. Thus after Le Mans they have no job any more. Could be room for some LMS races…..

After Le Mans they will be running 2 R10s in ALMS together with Champion Racing

[Dauer 962]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

After Le Mans they will be running 2 R10s in ALMS together with Champion Racing

Will it need two world class sportscar teams to run two cars in the ALMS ? I don´t know.....

[jhansen]

I must say I'm confused about this. The recent ALMS Audi release said that Champion would be supporting the Audi Sport North America entry in the ALMS. Joest was only mentioned in that they would be running Sebring and Le Mans. Champion would help out at Sebring. However, Joest is listed at the team that will "concentrate entirely on the new Audi R10 sportscar project during the 2006 season." And it is clear that Joest will not be running the DTM program.

Where this leaves Joest is my question. I see three options really: 1) they continue testing in Europe, 2) they join the Champion squad for the remaining ALMS rounds, 3) they contest the remaining LMS races.

[JAG]

The Audi Sport North America entry IS Joest, with Champion helping/learning.

In 2007 I would expect Champion to be the sole ALMS team, Joest to race as a factory team against Peugeot in the LMS, plus a couple of customer R10s in the LMS (Audi UK etc.).