Audi: Will they or wont they? (LMS 2008)

[SALEEN S7R]

Theres been a lot of speculation and rumor regarding Audi joining the LMS during recent months with both Wolfgang Ulrich saying it could be possible and Allan McNish saying that he would like to add a LMS title to his 2 ALMS championships. Does it really make sense for Audi to join the LMS though? In terms of brand recognition perhaps but then they already have the DTM for that although admitedly the DTM is on dodgy ground at the minute. Audi certainly dont need to raise awareness of diesel engines over here in Europe though, which of course is one of the main reasons for them staying over in the ALMS at the moment.

So, will Audi come to the LMS in 2008? And if so in what capacity, would we see a full factory Joest team similar to what we have seen in the ALMS in recent years? Or would we perhaps see privateer teams running the cars with factory backing like Audi Sport UK had in 2004? Either way Peugeot definately could do with some competition in the LMS next year, the only real reason they didnt win all the races were due to reliabilty. Yes Pescarolo, Zytek and Creation werent all that far behind but they werent really on the pace of the Peugeot's and now there is rumor that Peugeot could pull out of the LMS and take part in "selected" ALMS events as well as Le Mans but no LMS for 2008.

Personally I think Audi will join, although perhaps not as a full factory team like we see in the ALMS.