Le Mans, June 18, 2000
The 2000 Le Mans 24 Hours has produced a dream result for Audi. A dominant
victory was achieved in arguably the most difficult and demanding race in the
world in front of a 200,000 plus crowd. After triumphs in world rallying and in
touring car racing, Audi wrote a further chapter in to its already successful and
illustrious motorsport history.
In extremely hot weather conditions, Audi proved once more that the slogan,
„Vorsprung durch Technik“, the three Audi R8s for 24 hours were not only the
fastest cars in 48-car field but also the most reliable.
Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen, Chairman of the Board, Audi AG, remarked: „The
foundations for victory were laid during the conception of this fascinating race
car. Everyone who has contributed and worked on this project can really be
proud, of course the team from Audi Sport, who have developed the R8, and Audi
Sport Team Joest, who have done a perfect preparation of the race cars.“
The three Audi R8s dictated the pace from the outset. In all practice sessions
and almost during the entire race, Audi held the top three positions. With
368-laps, the winning car completed three more laps than last year's winner.
„We could not have done any better, confirmed a delighted Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich,
Audi's Head of Sport. „We had no technical problems at all.“
Rear sections on two of the Audi R8s had to be changed but only for safety
reasons. „We did not want to take any risks“, added Dr. Ullrich. „Before this,
Audi no. 9 had a spin while no. 7 had a puncture.“
The ultimate winner, the no. 8 Audi R8 driven by Frank Biela (Germany), Tom
Kristensen (Denmark) and Emanuele Pirro (Italy), was delayed during the first
half of the race by two punctures. Apart from that, the car was running like
clockwork and was on top of the field from the 11th hour to the finish.
Frank Biela said: „The car was a dream especially considering that we did 24
hours at high speed and that we were fighting between ourselves.“
Despite Audi enjoying a big advantage, there were no team orders.
Dr. Ullrich explained: „We wanted to have a sporting fight. Our drivers had no
team orders and they all showed during the race that they were true
professionals and that they can handle a high-pressure situation. Everyone was
clear that the success should be for Audi and because of that, to me, all of the
drivers are winners.“
Behind Biela/Kristensen/Pirro, who had already won the Sebring 12 Hour race in
America three months ago, Laurent Aiello (France), Allan McNish (Britain) and
Stéphane Ortelli (France), were second with the similar Audi R8 of Christian Abt
(Germany), Michele Alboreto (Italy) and Rinaldo Capello (Italy) coming home
third.
Reinhold Joest, Director of Audi Sport Team Joest, confirmed: “This is an
outstanding achievement which makes history for Audi. Before us, only three
other works teams achieved a 1-2-3 clean sweep at Le Mans.“
The next event for the Le Mans winners is in just three weeks. The Audi R8s
race at the Nurburgring in Germany in the fourth round of the American Le Mans
Series on July 9.
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