Audi R18 TDI in third place on its debut
Quotes after the race
Dindo Capello (Audi R18 TDI #3): “It was a difficult race for me. On my first stint I was really struggling with the car. The front didnt have any bite at all. I had the feeling that there was way too little downforce or a lot of pick-up on the front tires. It was strange that the car was suddenly feeling normal again toward the end of my second stint. That was a bit confusing.” Tom Kristensen (Audi R18 TDI #3): “That was an action-packed weekend. We had a few problems in the race at first. But the car kept getting better after we adjusted the tire pressure. I was on the advance when I started suffering a slow puncture. Unfortunately, I had to drive a whole lap with this handicap but managed to bring the car to the pits safely. That wasnt easy but (our engineer) Howden (Haynes) did a fantastic job and kept telling me the pressure levels over the radio. Still, the slow puncture destroyed our race because toward the end we had to make an additional pit stop to refuel. That I was kissed by a GT vehicle just about at the same time I had the flat tire almost made no difference any more.” Allan McNish (Audi R18 TDI #3): “A podium is always a good result, also with a view toward the championship. But to be honest: Its a bit frustrating dropping to third place after starting from one, two and three on the grid due to minor problems. The Audi R18 TDI was competitive at its first race from the outset. It was a very close battle between us and Peugeot during some of the phases. Unfortunately, in the end it didnt turn out in our favor.” Timo Bernhard (Audi R18 TDI #1): “That was a very tough race today. The positive thing about it is that we can take a lot of things with us with respect to Le Mans because it was a test in racing conditions. Our car was lacking a bit of racing luck today. That was a shame because in the beginning I was definitely in contention. I was running in second and third place the whole time, everything was right, actually. But then an LMP2 unfortunately touched the rear of my car, which damaged the rear hood. Things like this can happen in a field of 55 cars.” Romain Dumas (Audi R18 TDI #1): “That was a pretty crazy day. We were strong throughout the weekend. Qualifying was great and we were running really well for the first hour and a half of the race. We had a fantastic battle with our main rival. Unfortunately, we lost ground due a lot of small things which made the difference in the end. The race at Spa didnt go well for us. Last year it was similar here – and instead Le Mans was all the better.” Mike Rockenfeller (Audi R18 TDI #1): “We had pretty high expectations before the race. Timo (Bernhard) fought a great battle at the beginning. Up to the incident with the LMP things were looking really good. We changed the rear lid but decided against replacing the whole rear body part although the damage was more extensive. That made the car extremely difficult to drive for Romain (Dumas) and me. Actually, we were just rolling around. I still tried to save diesel fuel but that didnt really work out either. The positive thing is that weve learned a lot. And we were competitive. If we eliminate the mistakes for Le Mans our prospects should be pretty good.” Marcel Fässler (Audi R18 TDI #2): “My car had oversteer. The aerodynamic balance had shifted somehow. The second stint in particular was difficult. I had three hairy moments, one in Blanchimont and two in Eau Rouge. That forced me to realize that it didnt make any sense to continue to attack. In the end, I reduced my pace. There was no danger from behind and there was nothing I could do to push forward. For me, it was simply important to bring the car home.” André Lotterer (Audi R18 TDI #2): “The start was great. I had a good lead. Things were beginning to get more difficult when the tires started becoming more slippery. That allowed the others to come closer again. The fight with the Peugeot was pretty nice. At the pit stop we lost some time because we had to push the car back. I was able to attack again afterward and make up some ground to the Peugeot. But Ben subsequently suffered a huge amount of misfortune with some really strange things. Twice he had an enormous amount of pick-up on his tires. Weve still got to get a handle on a large number of minor issues before Le Mans to be well set there.” Benoît Tréluyer (Audi R18 TDI #2): “The car was really good before we started having the pick-up problem. I had to make an unscheduled pit stop and shortly afterward it happened again. The pick-up was probably due to the fact that we had to overtake the GT cars alongside the racing line. I really dont know though. Well find out and come up with a solution. The good thing is that the car is fast. I was almost always able to close the gap to the Peugeots when things were going normal. Naturally, it would have been nice to win thin this race. But our goal is Le Mans – weve got to continue to concentrate on that.” Ralf Jüttner (Technical Director Audi Sport Team Joest): “We had higher expectations of this race but encountered a lot of strange problems: incidents of body contact, pick-up on the tires and things like that. Mechanically, the cars held up. Still, we collected a long list for Le Mans today which weve got to check off. That was a championship round that we would have liked to have won. The Peugeots were quick and had no unusual issues. We still got quite a few things to do.” Results
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