In June Audi celebrated its tenth victory with the R18 TDI diesel race sports car and ultra-lightweight technology in a dramatic race at the famous Le Mans 24 Hours. Likewise, on October 1st, Audi Sport Team Joest is aiming for the brand's tenth triumph at the U.S. counterpart, the "Petit Le Mans" at Road Atlanta in the state of Georgia. Nine times Audi has won the event which alongside the Daytona 24 Hours and the Sebring 12 Hours is the most important endurance race in North America. From 2000 to 2005 the Audi R8 was unbeatable at the race that is run over 1000 miles or for a maximum of ten hours. In 2006, 2007 and 2008 the Audi R10 TDI triumphed three times in a row. After unfortunate defeats in the past two years with the R15 TDI, Audi is set on returning to victory lane with the new R18 TDI at Road Atlanta.
Audi Sport Team Joest is fielding two vehicles at the first overseas event of the R18 TDI. Each will car will have three drivers due to the length of the race. Timo Bernhard and Marcel Fässler, who have been forming a driver team in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) since the round at Imola and have been on the podium twice, will be supported by Romain Dumas. Joining Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish will be Dindo Capello - the most successful driver of the American classic with a track record of five overall victories (2000, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008).
Minute details could also be crucial this year. At Le Mans Audi triumphed in June after 24 hours with an advantage of merely 13.854 seconds. At the 6-hour race at Silverstone the fastest lap times of the top four vehicles were within 202 thousandths of a second. And with 56 teams having submitted entries, the track at Road Atlanta will be pretty packed, with numerous overtaking maneuvers posing a permanent risk of body contact.
After third place at Imola and second place at Silverstone there is just one goal for Audi at the U.S. classic on October 1st: victory. Therefore, Audi Sport Team Joest will already be testing on the weekend before the race at Road Atlanta in order to set up the R18 TDI as perfectly as possible for the special characteristics of the track and not leave anything to chance.
Tens of thousands of spectators lining the track at Road Atlanta will be watching the two R18 TDI cars with their whispering V6 TDI engines. Since its inaugural round in 1998, "Petit Le Mans" has evolved into one of North America's biggest racing events that is meanwhile attracting more than 100,000 fans.
Qualifying will take place on Friday afternoon (September 30) from 15:30 to 15:45, local time; the race will start on Saturday (October 1) at 11:30. Eurosport will broadcast the starting phase from 17:30 to 18:30 and the final phase from 00:00 to 03:30 live. In the USA the race will be broadcast live on ESPN 3. ABC will air a two-hour summary on Sunday (October 2) starting at 16:00 Eastern Time.
Timo Bernhard (30/D), Audi R18 TDI #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest)
- Was class winner at Road Atlanta in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007
- Most recently finished as the runner-up with Marcel Fässler at Silverstone
"At Silverstone we saw how tight the situation can be in the end. That gave the whole team another boost. Our performance is right, we're in contention for victory, and in the UK we had the lead several times. After my class victories at Road Atlanta an overall win would mean a lot to me. Maybe I can continue my sequence of results: At Sebring I was fifth, at Spa fourth, at Imola third and at Silverstone second. So what's still missing ...?"
Timo Bernhard (D): *Feb 24, 1981 in Homburg (D); residence: Dittweiler (D); married to Katharina; height 1.73 m; weight: 61 kg; Audi driver since 2009; Le Mans victories: 1; ILMC races: 7; ILMC victories: 0; pole positions: 1; fastest laps: 0; best result "Petit Le Mans": 2; victories "Petit Le Mans": 0
Track info
Track length: 4.088 km
Length/duration of race: 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) / 10 hours
Pole position 2010: Anthony Davidson (Peugeot), 1m 07.187s = 219.023 km/h (Oct 01, 2010)
Fastest lap 2010: Franck Montagny (Peugeot), 1m 07.948s = 216.569 km/h (Oct 02, 2010)
Timo Bernhard about Road Atlanta: "You reach an incredible speed on this track. Except for turn seven all the corners are very fast. The many directional changes within a lap also stand out. Particularly the 'Esses' are very challenging. It's difficult to find a good set-up for them. After you've been at the wheel for a long time you can really tell what you've accomplished because of the high 'g' forces. In addition, there are many differences in elevation. You often can't see the track behind the crests. It's very dusty when it's dry and it floods the circuit when it's wet. The best places for overtaking are in turns 10 and 11. But watch out, if you overtake a car in the left-hand turn it is normally perfectly placed to counter in the next right!"
Schedule (local times)
Monday, September 26
08:00-12:00 Free practice
13:00-17:00 Free practice
Wednesday, September 28
14:45-16:45 Free practice
Thursday, September 29
10:00-11:00 Free practice
14:55-15:55 Free practice
19:00-21:00 Night practice
Friday, September 30
10:15-11:15 Free practice
14:40-14:55 Qualifying (GTC/LM GTE Am)
14:55-15:10 Qualifying (GT/LM GTE Pro)
15:15-15:30 Qualifying (LM PC prototypes)
15:30-15:45 Qualifying (LM P1 and LM P2 prototypes)
Saturday, October 1
09:15-09:40 Warm-up
11:30-21:30 Race