Audi @ 12H Sebring?

[SFRT - Frenchy]

Peugeot finished first & second   at the 12H of Sebring, in front of the Aston-Lola. But the race was missing the Audis. Does anyone knows why? They thought their 2009 R15 would be outclassed, or planed to introduce their new 2010 R15 that wasn't ready in time?

[Reaper90]

Not ready in time, if I understood correctly. They are actually testing at Sebring as we speak, in preparation for future events.

[SFRT - Frenchy]

But are they testing the 2010 concept, or a modified 2009?

[SIK1]

I don't know why they did not make a start at Sebring this year. I do know that Audi withdrew from ALMS before last season and only raced at Sebring that year in the U.S. Maybe they decided too abandon the U.S. entirely where it concerns the prototypes.
It really is a shame too. What Audi has done in Le Mans racing is pretty spectacular, and that diesel is bad to the bone..

[avionix]

Sebring is about 45 minutes from me.  I need to pop on down there sometime.  Those two cars look so much alike it is hard to believe that they were built by two different manufacturers.

[SFRT - Frenchy]

Wished I could remember who said that regarding supercars similar shapes : "There's only one way to go fast".

Totaly agree, Audi stuned a couple of people winning with a diesel engine. We are quite familliar with diesel performances in Europe, but quite an eye opener with the North American crowd. I saw them 2 years ago, such a quiet car as they race by, the brakes are louder than the engine, their engine sound is covered by Penske's 2-3 corners away. Peugeot went that route too, 5.5L diesel 900lbs tq monster.
 

[edog1977]

For those interested in the technical side of sports car racing you may want to check out this site:

http://www.mulsannescorner.com

If you go to the news section you can see some pictures of the Audi R15 Plus from sometime this month.  It's still an open cockpit design and looks nothing like the picture at the top of this thread.

[SFRT - Frenchy]

That's a really cool website, ty.