AUDI SPORT TEAM JOEST (DEU)

Competitions Manager: Wolfgang Ullrich
Base: Ingolstadt (Audi) & Wald Michelbach (Joest) (DEU)
www.audi-motorsport.com ; www.joest-racing.de

2015 FIA WEC results
Silverstone 6 Hours:
1st no. 6 Audi R18 e-tron quattro Tréluyer/Fässler/Lotterer (FRA/SUI/DEU)
5th no. 8 Audi R18 e-tron quattro Di Grassi/Duval/Jarvis (BRA/FRA/GB).
Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours:
1st no. 6 Audi R18 e-tron quattro Tréluyer/Fässler/Lotterer (FRA/SUI/DEU),
4th no. 9 Audi R18 e-tron quattro Alburquerque/Bonanomi/Rast (POR/ITA/DEU),
7th no. 8 Audi R19 e-tron quattro Di Grassi/Duval/Jarvis (BRA/FRA/GB).

 

Audi was founded in 1909 by German engineer, August Horch, after he left the company bearing his name. In 1932, Wanderer, Horch, DKW and Audi joined together to form Auto Union hence the logo with four rings. This was the glorious era of the Silver Arrows, Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz, which shared records and grand prix victories between 1934 and 1939. After the war, DKW was revived in 1949, Audi in 1966, and NSU joined the group in 1969.

 

Audi began to forge a sporting image for the make by launching the Quattro in the World Rally Championship in 1980. Since then, the German make has also won in IMSA-GTO, in various touring car championships, and since 1999 in endurance, in which it has become the benchmark. It has won the ALMS Series in each of its campaigns, as well as the inaugural LMS in 2004 following by another slightly unexpected success in 2008. Probably no other manufacturer has ever dominated endurance racing to such an extent. One of the reasons for this supremacy is the fact that Audi has benefitted from the know-how of Team Joest, Reinhold Joest’s outfit, which has a vast amount of long-distance racing experience (4 victories with Porsche in the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1984-85, 1996-97 well before the start of the Audi saga).

 

Audi set itself a big challenge by aiming to become the first manufacturer to win the Le Mans 24 Hours with a diesel engine, a feat it achieved in 2006. The Audi R10 TDI was a worthy successor to the R8. It confirmed this in 2007 with another victory despite the arrival of Peugeot. The V12 R10 TDI also won the Sebring 12 Hours twice, and in 2008 scored its hat trick of Le Mans success with diesel power, its eighth victory in the Sarthe classic and clinched a rather unexpected title in the ALMS. Audi designed a brand-new car for the 2009 season, the R15, which had a longer wheelbase, a smaller V10 engine and very avant-garde aerodynamics.

It also reshuffled its driver line-up with Dumas and Bernhard from Porsche replacing old soldiers, Pirro and Biela. The R15 made a winning debut at Sebring in 2009 driven by Capello-McNish-Kristensen, but disappointed at Le Mans, in which it could do no better than third, a result it repeated in that year’s rain-shortened Petit Le Mans, while a new version of the R15 was being built in Ingolstat.

Called the R15 Plus it appeared in 2010 and won on its first outing, the Le Castellet 8 Hours. In the hands of Dumas-Bernhard-Rockenfeller, it gave Audi its ninth victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours allied to a triple. In the ILMC, however, Peugeot took its revenge beating the Ingolstadt manufacturer.
In 2011, Audi began the season with two of its 2010 cars adapted to the regulations and entered them for the Sebring 12 Hours. The new closed R18 powered by a V6 turbo engine had its maiden outing in the Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours. At Le Mans the surviving R18 saw the flag in first place after a thrilling race with only 13.854s (equivalent to 775 m) in hand over the second-placed Peugeot followed by three more 908s, the fourth-closest finish in the race’s history. It was Tréluyer-Fässler-Lotterer’s first win in the event and they became part of its history by giving Audi its tenth victory. Now only Porsche with 16 wins was in front of the make from Ingolstad. As in 2010, Audi saved its season thanks to its Le Mans success as in the second year of the ILMC Peugeot dominated its German rival winning all the other races and the title.

The following year Audi entered the newly-created FIA World Endurance Championship organised by the ACO, which began with the Sebring 12 Hours in which the German manufacturer again entered its 2011 cars (updated). At Spa on 5th May it gave its two new models, the R18 ultra, a lightened version of the 2011 R18, and the R18 e-tron quattro powered by a diesel engine boosted by a hybrid system, their debut. Two of each raced in the Sarthe where Audi became the first manufacturer to win the Le Mans 24 Hours with a hybrid vehicle. It was the German make’s eleventh victory in the race and the cherry on the cake was a triple in the face of opposition from Toyota, which had taken on the role of challenger after Peugeot’s brutal withdrawal. However, the rest of the world championship proved less successful for Audi. It won the Silverstone and Bahrain rounds after which victory in the next three went to Toyota. Nonetheless, the German Company became part of history by winning the first FIA World Endurance Championship Manufacturers’ title in LM P1. Its no. 1 driver line-up, Tréluyer-Fässler-Lotterer, victorious at Le Mans in 2011 and 2012, clinched the Drivers’ World Championship title. Overall, the year was one in which Audi consolidated more than a decade of success in endurance with its world championship titles and the Le Mans first with the hybrid R18 e-tron quattro.
During the winter break Audi burned the midnight oil in view of the 2013 season by improving its R18 e-tron quattro. After another double at Sebring (not part of the FIA World Endurance Championship) the Ingolstadt cars dominated the first two rounds of the world championship at Silverstone and Spa. So once again Audi arrived in the Sarthe as hot favourite with its three R18 e-tron quattros.
Toyota was given a slight fuel break with a bigger tank and kept up the pressure on its German rival throughout the race. However, Dane Tom Kristensen, Frenchman Loïc Duval and Scot Allan McNish avoided all the pitfalls of an event run in atrocious weather conditions and gave Audi its 12th victory in the Sarthe (and Kristensen’s ninth), in the no. 2 R18 e-tron quattro which had a trouble-free run. As in 2012 Toyota ended the season with several wins, but was unable to prevent Audi from clinching the LM P1 manufacturers’ title again when the season ended in Shanghai. Duval-Kristensen-McNish won the drivers’ crown.

In 2014 Audi entered two cars in the world endurance championship and three for Spa and Le Mans. The R18 complying with the new regulations kept the e-tron quattro moniker. The German machines had a new chassis and retained the very efficient V6 TDI diesel engine with a single hybrid system very similar to the 2013 version. The hybrid power was released on the front axle in slow corners under 120 km/h unlike the previous year. This was due to the fuel reduction of 30 per cent aimed at by the organisers.
Despite being uncompetitive in the first two races Audi won the blue-riband event in the championship, the Le Mans 24 Hours. Tréluyer-Fässler-Lotterer scored their third victory in the Sarthe and Audi’s thirteenth at Le Mans in 16 outings – an unequalled feat! The same trio won the American round of the championship, but the season ended on a low note and Audi failed to retain its 2013 title.
In view of the 83rd Le Mans 24 Hours the German manufacturer gave its car an in-depth redesign. It has new aerodynamics (front bonnet, front wing and revised wheel arches), the drag has been optimized and the engine cover refined, etc. In addition, Audi has moved up to the 4 MJ category in terms of the engine power output. The changes seem to have given the R18s a new lease of life as at both Silverstone and Spa Tréluyer/Fässler/Lotterer emerged victorious in no. 7. No. 8 in which Tom Kristensen, who has retired, has been replaced by Brit Oliver Jarvis, hasn’t enjoyed the same success as its sister car being beset with a variety of problems and race incidents. At Spa as at Le Mans Audi entered a third car for Felipe Alberquerque, Marco Bonanomi and René Rast who finished fourth after a problem-free run.

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