Ullrich: “2011 with the same drivers”

Since the last 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Audi R15 plus was no longer seen in the race. The German car will return to competition on the weekend of September 12, for the 1000 km of Silverstone, the last LMS event and the first of the ILMC (Intercontinental Le Mans Cup). The program for this new “cup” will then include the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on October 2 and then Zhuhai in China on November 7.

The Dane Tom Kristensen and the Scot Allan McNish will compete in these three events aboard the car bearing the number 7. If they will be joined by Dindo Capello for the Petit Le Mans, the Italian will be supported by the German Timo Bernhard on the No. 8 at Silverstone, and by the Frenchman Romain Dumas at Zuhai. Finally, in the United States, the second car will carry the number 9 and will be entrusted to Marcel Fässler, Benoit Tréluyer and André Lotterer, the trio having finished second in the last 24 Hours of Le Mans.

With his 9 drivers monopolizing the podium in the last 24 hours, Dr Ullrich could only be proud of his crews having achieved a flawless performance. Crews that he hopes to keep next year. Never change a winning team.

“Since there are only Teams and Manufacturers rankings and no Drivers rankings, we are taking advantage of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup to bring in drivers who have not raced very often for us, says the big boss of Audi Motorsport. Our goal is to race at Le Mans in 2011 with the same drivers as this season”.

Only Mike Rockenfeller will therefore not take the wheel of the R15 anymore in competition this year, the German having an already busy schedule with the DTM.

The objective for Dr Wolfgang Ullrich and his men will obviously be to become the first winners in the history of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, a championship which will be made up of 2011 events from 7 including the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The car used will be almost identical to the example seen in June in Sarthe. The R15 that won the most recent 24 Hours of Le Mans will, however, receive a somewhat different aerodynamic package generating more downforce, the circuits of Silverstone, Road Atlanta and Zhuhai being slower tracks than the Le Mans track.