Suspense through to the end: In a race that was interrupted by a total of eleven caution periods, Capello/Kristensen/McNish in the Audi R18 TDI designated as car number "2" had to work hard for their victory. Their rivals from their own team in car number "3" consistently remained within a striking distance with gaps of a few seconds in the first ten of the race's 12 hours. The safety car repeatedly reduced the gaps of the trio at the front but Bernhard/Dumas/Duval lost four laps shortly before the end of the race due to body contact with a competitor.

The 12-hour race at Sebring (U.S. state of Florida) on March 17 is shaped by major developments. For Audi, the new FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) is ringing in a completely new era. The brand with the four rings last won a world championship title in 1984 - then in rallying. At the same time, Audi has the chance of clinching its tenth overall victory on the 60th anniversary of the classic endurance race.

Audi is starting into its most important sports car season so far. For the first time, the brand with the four rings will be battling to clinch a world champion's title in road course racing. Audi has been successfully competing in sports car races since 1999 and has won many series, including the American Le Mans Series on nine occasions. This year, for the first time since 1992, the FIA is again awarding a world champion's title for Le Mans prototypes, the race cars that currently feature the most sophisticated technology of all.
 
The technical development at Audi Sport in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm is running at full stretch. No less than three different versions of the R18 LMP1 race car will be fielded during the course of the season. The Audi R18 e-tron quattro and Audi R18 ultra cars unveiled at the end of February are currently subjected to an extensive testing program and will be making their racing debut at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) at the beginning of May. At the world championship season opener at Sebring, Audi Sport Team Joest will rely once more on the R18 TDI that was victorious at Le Mans last year.
 
Effective immediately, new rules will reduce the engine output of the diesel-powered vehicles by around seven percent. To achieve this, the size of the air restrictors will be reduced from a diameter of 47.4 to 45.8 millimeters. The charging pressure drops from 3,000 to 2,800 millibar. The fuel tank capacity has been reduced as well. At a pit stop, the Audi R18 TDI can be filled with a maximum of 60 instead of the previous 65 liters of diesel fuel. In addition, it has to take 15 kilograms of ballast on board. The ballast compensates for the fact that the complex aerodynamic modifications of the fenders, which are prescribed as of 2012, have not been implemented on the R18 TDI but will only be made on the successor cars. Surprising but true: On its farewell, the R18 TDI will be experiencing a premiere as the closed-wheel sports car has never before competed in a 12-hour race at Sebring. The engineers, though, can draw on valuable historical data gathered with the Audi R18 TDI on many kilometers of testing on the famous race track in Florida.
 
Acid test for "man and machine"
 
The challenging 12-hour classic on the old airfield complex at Sebring stands for a notorious acid test at the season opener. The bumpy track consisting of tarmac and concrete slabs is rough on the race cars and the drivers' physical condition. Sweltering heat was often another challenge in the past. Plus, being a 12-hour race, the competition in Florida is the second-longest one on the 2012 WEC calendar. With currently 61 entries - 31 from the American Le Mans Series and 30 from the WEC - the race will demand maximum concentration. Heavy traffic on a track that is slightly less than six kilometers long harbors the risk of body contact and accidents while lapping. For Audi, the 60th running of the race marks an anniversary as well. For the tenth time since 2000 a race car emblazoned with the four rings will have the chance of clinching victory. On achieving its ninth success in 2009 with Dindo Capello/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish, Audi set a distance record that has remained unbeaten to date. The trio covered 2,280.5 kilometers in the Audi R15 TDI back then.
 
Several premieres in the driver line-up
 
Whereas Audi Sport Team Joest fielded two cars at each of the past runs at Sebring, the squad is now putting three R18 TDI vehicles on the grid. Car number "1" is shared by Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer (CH/D/F), with each of the three Le Mans winners from last year experiencing a Sebring premiere. Fässler has never before started from the Sebring grid in a sports prototype. André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer have never raced at Sebring before at all but know the track from tests. Car number "2" is shared by Dindo Capello/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish (I/DK/GB). Kristensen, with five victories under his belt, is the record holder, Capello has won the endurance race four times, and McNish three times. Car number "3" will be driven by Timo Bernhard (D) and Romain Dumas (F), who jointly mounted the winners' podium as early as in 2008. They will be sharing their R18 TDI with Audi's new signing Loïc Duval (F). The Frenchman is bringing a fitting "inaugural gift" to the squad. He was celebrated as a winner at the 12-hour race at Sebring last year. The nine drivers combined thus boast as many as 15 individual Sebring successes. 
 
Timo Bernhard (31/D), Audi R18 TDI #3 (Audi Sport Team Joest)
- Was the overall winner at Sebring four years ago
- Will be running with Loïc Duval as his new team-mate
"I'm very much looking forward to Sebring. I drove there for the first time in 2001. That was also my first endurance race and I've got many fond memories of this track. With Romain Dumas I managed to clinch overall victory there in 2008. Last year, our pace was good but we had two punctures which cost us any chance of victory. This year, I'm traveling there with high expectations. Sebring is always a great opener, a challenging race track and a superb event. I'm happy to be part of it again."
 
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; Sebring victories: 1.
 
Track info
 
Track length: 5.954 km
Race duration: 12 hours
Pole position 2011: Stéphane Sarrazin, Peugeot 908, 1m 46.571s = 201.128 km/h (March 18, 2011)
Fastest lap 2011: Alexander Wurz, Peugeot 908, 1m 48.141s = 198.208 km/h (March 19, 2011)

Schedule (local times; CET - 5 hours)
 
Thursday, March 15
10:00-11:00 Free practice
14:50-15:50 Free practice
19:35-21:20 Night practice
 
Friday, March 16
16:10-16:25 Qualifying (LMP1 vehicles)
 
Saturday, March 17
08:00-08:25 Warm-up
10:30-22:30 Race (12 hours)

*** Merry Christmas and a happy new year ! Best wishes for 2012 ! ***

Timo Bernhard + Daniel Fries

At the end of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) Audi Sport Team Joest achieved another podium result with the Le Mans winning Audi R18 TDI at the season finale in China. Timo Bernhard and Marcel Fässler finished the 6-hour race at Zhuhai in third place. Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen in the "sister car" were forced to retire due to a collision in which they were not at fault.

As was often the case this year, Audi Sport Team Joest was lacking the necessary bit of luck at Zhuhai after both Audi R18 TDI cars had been setting the pace at the beginning of the race. As early as on lap one Allan McNish and Timo Bernhard managed to pass one of the two Peugeots and to take over positions two and three. On lap 18 both Audi drivers also overtook the Peugeot of Sébastien Bourdais which had been leading up to that point.
 
The Audi squad was not able to enjoy the one-two lead for very long though: Allan McNish lost a lap early on when during the first refueling stop the rear bodywork of the Audi R18 TDI had to be exchanged as a result of contact with a GT car in which he had not been at fault. More serious consequences were caused by the mistake of a rival in the LMP1 class who made a braking mistake in front of Turn 1 and slid into the rear of the Audi that was running in front of him causing a cable harness to be severed. The resulting short circuit caused irreparable damage to the onboard electronics of the R18 TDI. Following several unscheduled pit stops Audi Sport Team Joest took the car out of the race after three hours and 46 minutes.

Timo Bernhard and Marcel Fässler were running at the front of the field for a long time. However, toward the race's midpoint the Audi R18 TDI designated as car number "1" lost too much time since the tires started degrading much more heavily than expected during the second stint. While trying to overtake the leading Peugeot and to recover the lap that way, Marcel Fässler went into a spectacular spin in the fast finish turn shortly before the end of the race. The Le Mans winner managed to regain control of the R18 TDI without touching the track barrier and thus secured third place. After Imola and Silverstone, this marked the third joint podium result in the ILMC for Bernhard and Fässler.

Timo Bernhard (Audi R18 TDI #1): "The pace definitely existed today - as had actually been the case at all the previous races. It's a shame because on the first stint we took the lead and after the second one we were leading for about ten seconds. Unfortunately, in the second part of Marcel's double-stint we had to note that the tires had heavily degraded. Exactly the time we lost at that point was the time we were lacking in the end. We weren't able to make up for that any more as the competitiveness in the ILMC is too high to be able do so. I do think though that Marcel (Fässler) and I did a good job today. The pace was good, we always managed to get through the field in a nice, clean drive."
 
Results
 
1 Bourdais/Davidson (Peugeot) 249 laps in 6h 01m 24.879s
2 Montagny/Sarrazin (Peugeot) + 38.651s
3 Bernhard/Fässler (Audi R18 TDI) - 1 lap
4 Jani/Prost (Lola-Toyota) - 7 laps
5 Nicolet/Premat/Pla (Oak-Pescarolo-Judd) - 9 laps
6 Meyrick/Mücke/Primat (Lola-Aston Martin) - 10 laps
7 Lahaye/Moreau/Ragues (Oak-Pescarolo-Judd) - 11 laps
8 Mailleux/Ordonez/Vernay (Oreca-Nissan) - 21 laps
9 Farfus/Müller (BMW) - 28 laps
10 Priaulx/Alzen (BMW) - 29 laps

On November 13, at the close of a successful motorsport season, highlighted by the tenth triumph at the Le Mans 24 Hours and the title win in the DTM, Audi is contesting the 6-hour race at Zhuhai, China, the country that has meanwhile evolved into AUDI AG's largest sales market.
 
As early as in the first week of October the brand with the four rings equaled the Chinese sales record from the entire year of 2010. In 2011, Audi expects sales to reach the level of more than 300,000 vehicles there for the first time. For Audi, the finale of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) at Zhuhai is thus a fitting occasion to celebrate the Chinese record.
 
The brand's success in China is also rooted in motorsport. In 1985 and 1986, the legendary Audi quattro won the Hong Kong-Beijing Rally two consecutive times. Audi competed with the A4 DTM at Shanghai twice. And on the debut of the sports prototypes at Zhuhai last year the spectators were thrilled by the Audi R15 TDI.
 
Now the Chinese fans can look forward to the Audi R18 TDI, the vehicle that is arguably the world's most fascinating race car in terms of technology. It embodies the company's ultra-lightweight design technology and demonstrates downsizing at the highest level. Although the engine's cubic capacity was reduced from last year's 5.5 to 3.7 liters the R18 TDI is hardly slower than its predecessor. And it impressively proved that it is possible to win the Le Mans 24 Hours even with an ultra-compact diesel engine. In 2006, Audi was the first automobile manufacturer to win the Le Mans 24 Hours with a diesel-powered vehicle. Since June 2010 Audi has been the first brand to have entered its name on the winners' list of the world's most important endurance race with a V6 TDI engine. And the preparations for the 2012 season have long been in full swing at Audi Sport in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm.
 
But before the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup becomes the FIA World Endurance Championship next year, which upgrades the sports prototypes even further, Audi is making every effort to close its successful motorsport season at Zhuhai with a victory. There is no doubt about the Audi R18 TDI having the potential to do so. Most recently, though, it had been lacking a tiny bit of the necessary racing luck.
 
Yet the fans at Zhuhai will not only have the opportunity to experience the two LMP1 sports cars that will again be driven by Timo Bernhard (D)/Marcel Fässler (CH) and Tom Kristensen (DK)/Allan McNish (GB).
 
Audi fans around the world will be able to watch the ILMC finale live on the internet on Audi.tv. The broadcast from Zhuhai will start at 11 a.m. local time (4 a.m. CET) on November 13 and can be accessed at http://microsites.audi.com/lemans/. Eurosport will broadcast the final stages of the race live from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. (CET).

Timo Bernhard (30/D), Audi R18 TDI #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest)
- Most recently, at Road Atlanta, started from the front row together with Marcel Fässler
"I've never driven at Zhuhai before and have never been to China in my career before either. That's why I prepared for the track with onboard camera footage. On location, you walk the track before you drive it the first time. As a professional, you're able to quickly implement the things you've learned in the cockpit. The many tight turns after the long straights will be rough on the brakes. But that also makes nice passes under braking possible. The fact that only 29 cars will be on the grid will help us after almost twice as many were in the field most recently. The risk of accidents thus clearly drops. Our lap times were absolutely competitive at the past two races but we often found ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm hoping for better racing luck in China. It's nice that we're arriving as a strong squad. At Audi, we never give up and always support each other a lot."

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; ILMC races: 8; ILMC victories: 0; pole positions: 1; fastest laps: 0;

Track info
 
Track length: 4.319 km
Race duration: 6 hours
 
Schedule (local times)
 
Friday, November 11
10:30-12:00 Free practice 1
15:00-16:00 Free practice 2
 
Saturday, November 12
10:15-11:15 Free practice 3
14:50-15:10 Qualifying (prototypes)
 
Sunday, November 13
08:00-08:20 Warm-up
11:00-17:00 Race

The 1,000-mile "Petit Le Mans" race at Road Atlanta (U.S. state of Georgia) was extremely disappointing for Audi. In the battle for the lead Romain Dumas in the Audi R18 TDI #1 on lap 297 became fautlessly entangled in an accident that forced him to retire. After several collisions, Audi Sport Team Joest took the second Audi R18 TDI out of the race early for safety reasons.

For seven hours the Audi fans had reason to hope for the brand with the four rings clinching victory at the prestigious US endurance classic. Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Marcel Fässler in the Audi R18 TDI designated as car number "1" fought some thrilling battles with the competition. It took Marcel Fässler only eight laps to bump the Peugeot that had started from the pole position from position one for the first time.
 
Although the Audi trio acted very cautiously in the extremely heavy traffic on the about 4.088-kilometer track and avoided body contact the three Audi drivers were able to achieve an advantage of a full lap over their immediate rivals some of the time. This advantage was destroyed when debris from another car lying on the track clogged one of the radiator ducts of the R18 TDI, which required an unscheduled pit stop. A 20-second stop-and-go penalty cost additional time.
 
Bernhard/Dumas/Fässler consistently stayed on the leading lap nevertheless and managed to close the gap to the leading Peugeot again with fast lap times. At the end of the seventh hour Romain Dumas launched a first attack against Franck Montagny during which there was some slight body contact in the chicane before the start and finish and the Audi driver lost five seconds. Only a few laps later Dumas caught up with the Peugeot again. When the Peugeot touched a GT vehicle Dumas at the start of the parallel straight was able to move alongside Montagny but was squeezed out by the Peugeot driver in the acceleration phase. While trying to avoid a collision with the Peugeot, Dumas brushed a GT vehicle and heavily hit the wall. That put a disappointing end to the race of the number "1" Audi R18 TDI which had been outstanding up to that point.
 
The sister car - number "2" - lost all chances of victory as early as in the starting phase. Tom Kristensen had two incidents of body contact with slower cars right at the beginning. The first one led to a puncture and a damaged hood. Later on, Allan McNish was hit in the rear by a GT vehicle. In addition to suspension and body parts, the clutch had to be exchanged which caused car number "2" to lose over an hour and drop back to a hopeless position. Because the various body contacts had also caused problems with the steering, Audi Sport Team Joest decided to take the car driven by Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish out of the race after 302 laps for safety reasons.

Timo Bernhard (Audi R18 TDI #1): "I think that the whole team around car number '1' did an exceptionally good job today. This particularly applies to the pit crew but also to us drivers - Romain (Dumas), Marcel (Fässer) and me. We didn't make any mistakes, constantly stayed on the same lap with the race leader despite a stop-and-go penalty and were always within a striking distance to victory. The end unfortunately came very abruptly. We didn't deserve that because we fought hard and always stayed fair in the process. We had a good rhythm and found the right, calculated risk. Unfortunately, Franck Montagny overdid it and barged off Romain (Dumas) who hit a slower car in the process. That was unfair. I'm very disappointed about Montagny."