Audi Le Mans driver Tom Kristensen is rumoured to be extremely anxious to driving the Audi R15 racing car Audi is working on for the future Le Mans races…
The eight-time Le Mans winner has already win with the R8 and the R10, and is convinced he can continue his dominance with the R15.
“I’ve seen the car, and it looks great. I’m confident we’ll do great with the Audi R15″
Here’s the only photo I’ve found to date:
Audi’s Racing Heritage goes back a long way. The Audi Quattro is a legendary car that has won many rally championships. The Quattro is based off an all wheel drive platform surprisingly. Audi was heavily criticized for using an all wheel drive system once the rally regulations started allowing them. When that time came it was the jackpot for Audi.
When looking at the Audi’s Racing Heritage it’s important to understand the Quattro as it has had a huge impact on it. No one was expecting the Quattro to go very far. However, it won its debut race and silenced all the doubters. That car also dominated the rally racing sport for another two years after that. Following the racing success of the Quattro, Audi found itself buried in excess orders of a car that was supposed to be a failure.
Those who have even the slightest idea about car racing will know about the famous Le Mans. The name Audi is synonymous with racing and history had proved this fact many times over. Just roll back to the 1980’s when Audi had released it’s 4 wheeled drive Quattro. This turbocharged vehicle went on to win countless races and rallies all over the world. Prior to this race, the use of 4 wheel drive cars was not allowed in races. The Quattro took advantage of the change in rules and went on to win the races. At that time the critics had serious doubts about the efficiency of the 4 wheel drive cars and thought that they could not win races.
They were of the opinion that these cars were heavy and slow and could thus not win the races. The Quattro by Audi proved them totally wrong. Among the various rallies won by the Audi Quattro were the World Rally Championships, the 1983 drivers’ title (car driven by Hannu Mikkola), the 1984 drivers’ title (car driven by Stig Blomqvist). The capabilities of this car had even brought the manufacturers’ title for Audi in the years 1982 and 1984. These incidents have proved the critics wrong. They now know that the cars manufactured by Audi have the capabilities to win at the race. Anybody who has doubts about the Audi’s racing heritage would do well to check up the glorious past of this car.
The Audi R8 GT3 is the official race-version of the Audi R8 and will be competing in stock car races against the likes of the Porsche 911 GT3, the Aston Martin DBR9, …
I’m convinced this 500bhp will give all the Porsches a run for their money. I’ll be cheering!
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