24 Hours of Le Mans – Bernhard replaced by Gené at Audi

The sentence is now official: Timo Bernhard, winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2010 alongside Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller, will therefore not be there this year. The Audi team doctors did not consider his recovery sufficiently advanced to risk any authorization to participate in one of the most dangerous and physically demanding races. “My progress is good and constantly monitored, but unfortunately there is not enough time before Le Mans to return to 100% of my fitness. Le Mans is a race that allows no compromise, and I only want to compete to the best of my ability. This is the reason why, and on the advice of my doctors and those responsible for AUdi Motorsport, I decided not to race at Le Mans this year,” sadly admits the 31-year-old German driver.

His replacement will therefore be the team's reserve driver, Marc Gené. The Spaniard drove the Audi R18 ultra in competition for the first time during the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in early May, an experience which ended in victory with his teammates Romain Dumas and Loïc duval.

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, the boss of Audi Motorsport, is obviously affected by this news: “We all hoped that Timo could be fully recovered for the test day at Le Mans and for the 24 Hours. Alas, time was too short for that. It's a real shame for Timo and for our team. Despite this responsible and difficult decision to make, we must nevertheless remain positive, because we know that Timo will regain his full capacity soon.”

Marc Gené will therefore be, from Sunday June 3 during the Le Mans test day, in the seat of the No. 3 Audi and will be aiming, from June 16-17, for a second outright victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.