The R18 e-tron quattro does not bury the TDI

It was in February 2010 that the e-tron quattro project started at Audi. Less than 18 months then passed between the conceptual idea of ​​the project and the first test. “It?s a relatively short cycle for a technology that has never been tested in competition and which does not yet exist in production” explains Dr. Martin Mühlmeier, who is head of technology at Audi Sport.

If the development of the Audi R18 e-tron quattro took a lot of time for the engineers of the Ingolstadt firm, they continued, at the same time, to develop the R18 ultra, the German brand having decided to field two cars this season with different technology throughout the new world championship of?Endurance. The 2012 version of the R18 was designed with and without the hybrid system. A challenge made possible by the fact that the basis of the two cars is strictly the same, which explains why the additional logistical efforts involved are in reality only limited for the team. “The TDI engine invented by Audi is still the most efficient mode of propulsion in the world, emphasizes Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Motorsport. We are convinced that TDI still has enormous potential. This is why Audi does not rely solely on the hybrid in competition as in its production, but continues to further develop this more conventional system?.

At the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 17, for the opening round of the World Endurance Championship, three so-called “classic” Audi R18 TDIs (Lotterer-Tréluyer-Fässler, Kristensen-McNish-Capello and Dumas-Bernhard-Duval) who will be at the start, before the R18 e-tron quattro enters the running for the second meeting, the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps WEC, le 5 mai, en même temps que la première apparition de Toyota. Dans l’Ardenne belge, on retrouvera quatre voitures frappées des anneaux : Deux R18 e-tron quattro pour Tréluyer-Lotterer-Fässler et McNish-Kristensen-Capello, et deux R18 TDI pour Bernhard-Dumas-Duval et Bonanomi-Jarvis. Des équipages qui seront similaires aux 24 Hours of Le Mans (June 16-17), apart from the fact that Mike Rockenfeller, absent in Belgium due to clash of dates with the DTM, will support Bonanomi-Jarvis. For the final rounds of the WEC, an R18 e-tron quattro and an R18 TDI will be fielded. However, we do not yet know who will lend a hand to Lotterer in the No. 1 and McNish in the No. 2, the only drivers at the moment certain to complete the entire season.