Sebring – Tréluyer: “Two slightly different objectives” at Audi

If you feel like you want to take the 24 Hours of Le Mans remain the supreme goal of all pilotsEndurance, there are other events that they also want to win. And the 12 Hours of Sebring is one of them. Next year, the Florida clock will be a round of the new American championship resulting from the merger of Grand-Am and ALMS, and which will no longer accept cars meeting LM P1 regulations. This is why this weekend, Benoît Tréluyer will give everything to win the bet on an Audi R18 e-tron quattro version 2012 which he shares with the Swiss Marcel Fässler and the Briton Oliver Jarvis. But to get there, the native of Alençon will have to thwart, among others, the ambitions of the trio Tom Kristensen-Allan McNish-Lucas Di Grassi, who will have a 18 R2013 e-tron quattro. “There are two slightly different objectives, affirms the reigning Endurance World Championship. With the old car, we are here to finish the event and try to win it. With the 2013 model, our teammates will also have victory in their sights but also the objective of testing the developments introduced during the winter in real racing conditions. »

“It is certain that I would like to win, He continues. It is a difficult event with a lot of traffic, with strategies different from European races. Plus, this is the last time we can ride there with a prototype. (LM P1. Editor’s note), and I would like to pin it to my list. It's a somewhat old-fashioned race on a partly concrete track. There are changes in covering, width, and we put in certain very rapid curves flush with the walls? In short, it?s incredible! It's a race in its own right, a bit like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, all things considered. » 

If Audi worked well last winter, the 2012 Audi should logically be somewhat behind its little sister in pure performance. But the traffic and possible teething problems that the latter might encounter could benefit Benoît and his two acolytes...even if the three men must certainly hope that the 18 R2013 proves to be more reliable given that it is this version that they will have at their disposal to start the World Endurance Championship on April 14 at Silverstone.