James Thompson

[Whitey]

There is an article in this mornings Yorkshire Post about James Thompson, in which he states that apart from winning the British Touring car championship, his only other ambition is to win Le mans. Come on Bentley if you are running more then one car next year, how about giving James a ride, I for one would love to be there again next year suppoting a Yorkshireman in a Bentley. I don't think things coul get much better

[AllonFS]

Bloody hell! I think he would need a little 'tuition' in endurance racing, otherwise he'll be door banging the other cars and won't last an hour, let alone 24!

[Whitey]

If Audi are there next year maybe he could be the solution to the Audi domination, send him out as an official hitman

[rdjones]

You will be seeing a Yorkshireman in Bentley next year......Guy Smith

[Whitey]

How about putting them in the same car

[pink69]

No works Audis next year Whitey, the Joest programme ends this year. Some privateer cars maybe.

[Muzza]

Originally posted by pink69
No works Audis next year Whitey, the Joest programme ends this year. Some privateer cars maybe.

Hello, Pink 69.

Just a few lines to avoid a misunderstanding.

Likely the Audi official sportscar program will end at the end of 2002, but it is quite possible that Joest will run the R8 as leader privateer team in 2003. The Joest team is being tight-lipped about this, but the chances are very high.

Reinhold Joest's strategy is to keep his team on its toes until 2004, when Porsche is expected to return to sportscar racing - and then select Joest as flagship team.

Talking again about privateer Audis in 2003, five teams are said to have officially approached Ingolstadt with offers to buy R8s. The Goh team publicly announced the intention of buying two cars, and Champion wants a second one.

Should Audi wanted, they could produce and sell at least six new chassis for 2003 for these teams, but Bernd Pischetsrieder (VW Group CEO) already announced that this will not happen. What a pity.

[Aysedasi]

Originally posted by Muzza
What a pity.

You seriously want to see 6-7 R8's at Le Mans next year? Personally, I don't.

[Muzza]

Dear Ayse,

Glad to hear from you, man.

Although I am as adamant about car diversity as you, I would like to see more Audis on track because they are teaching other manufacturers that sportscar racing is a feasible exercise - and the marketing result (so vital in these greedy times) presents a very good return on invested capital.

And I like cars that perform well - and win fair and square (not like a certain red squad in F-1).

Didn't you like Le Mans when ten or twelve Porsche 956/962 fought for the overall win?

Cheers, and I hope others will follow on Audi's footsteps,

[cybersdorf]

Originally posted by AllonFS
Bloody hell! I think he would need a little 'tuition' in endurance racing, otherwise he'll be door banging the other cars and won't last an hour, let alone 24!

One more reason for sticking with the LMP format in 2004 and beyond - no doors!!

[cybersdorf]

Originally posted by Aysedasi
You seriously want to see 6-7 R8's at Le Mans next year? Personally, I don't.

Flashback to 1982:
"You seriously want to see 6-7 956s at Le Mans next year? Personally, I don't."
6-7 cars racing for victory, what's so bad about that? We haven't had that in a while. There are no other manufacturers willing or able to produce cars of a similar standard, let alone for customers. So - why not?