Excellence delivered. Again.

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Detroit. It was setting up to be a titanic battle between two dominant German auto superpowers - Audi vs. Porsche - squaring off in an intramural slug-fest for the ages at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But someone forgot to send Toyota the memo, because their TS040 HYBRID prototypes were blistering fast and dominated for the first 14 hours of the race. The battle, it turns out, was between three manufacturers, with the German intramural battle well and truly joined by the ultra-competitive Toyota squad.

But in the end, with rain storms and attrition taking their inevitable toll in the 82nd running of the world's most prestigious endurance race, and with the Porsche challenge running out of steam in the final hour, Audi asserted its dominance and took control of the race with the No. 2 Audi Sport Team Joest R18 e-tron quattro driven by Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer coming home first, followed by the No. 1 Audi Sport Team Joest R18 e-tron quattro driven by Lucas di Grassi, Marc Gené and Tom Kristensen to make it a 1-2 for Audi, the manufacturer's thirteenth win at Le Mans in fifteen years. Nicolas Lapierre, Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi (No. 8 Toyota TS040 HYBRID) finished third.

This was supposed to be the year that Audi dominance would run its course, because Porsche, the manufacturer that has more overall wins at Le Mans than any other, was coming back and it wasn't coming back to lose. The Porsche 919 Hybrid prototypes were radical and loaded with fresh thinking, but maybe it was too much to expect the much-decorated manufacturer to unseat Audi just by showing up. The Porsche team put up a great fight and it was Audi's toughest test by far, but in the end, the years of lessons learned by Audi at Le Mans proved to be too much, and Audi triumphed again.

Audi knew that this race would be tougher by far because of Porsche and Toyota, but the situation was exacerbated in free practice on Wednesday when Loïc Duval had a massive crash in the No. 1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro. Duval, one of the team's stars, was not cleared to drive by officials and was hastily replaced by Marc Gené, a driver whom Audi identified in early testing as a backup, should they need it. As Roger Penske has often said, preparation is key to everything and effort equals results, and the Audi team delivered on both counts at Le Mans.

Fässler, Lotterer and Tréluyer first took the lead on Sunday morning just after 5 a.m., after having put consistent pressure throughout the night on the leading Toyota. But the No. 2 car had to change a turbocharger, which temporarily dropped the machine to third place before it stormed back to the front, a stint that had André Lotterer set the fastest lap of the race (3m 22.567s).

“It was a race of the kind you can only experience at Le Mans,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “There were many incidents and none of the top cars made it across the distance without any problems. The decisive factors were that our Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars were able to drive consistently fast for 24 hours, our drivers made no mistakes and our squad responded properly and quickly to the issues that occurred. In Porsche and Toyota we had two really strong rivals who, as expected, did not make life easy for us. I always believed that, in spite of the particularly difficult prerequisites for us this year, we’d be able to succeed and that we’ve got the most efficient race car. That we succeeded again makes me feel proud. ‘Thanks’ also from me to the whole squad, but to our Management Board and our Group as well that make it possible for us to demonstrate ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ at Le Mans year after year. But I also express my respect for the performance delivered by Porsche on their return to Le Mans.”
 
Not only is the 24 of Le Mans one of the greatest races in the world, it's big-time motor racing played out in spectacular fashion, with heavyweight manufacturers squaring off for bragging rights that they can carry forward for years to come. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent, the kind of dollars that make most manufacturers wince and say "no thanks."

As it should be too. Competing at the highest levels of anything is not for the faint of heart, and that's especially true at Le Mans, where the stakes are high, the budgets are higher and the rewards are even higher still. (Ever wonder why an American manufacturer hasn't stepped forward since the 60s to beat the Europeans at their own game? It's easy to say that it's about the money, because the numbers are certainly daunting in today's ROI-driven environment. But that's just one part of it, because what it really comes down to is a fundamental lack of the will to win. And you can't put a number on that.)

Audi has proved repeatedly and convincingly that they have the technical know-how to succeed. But even more than that, the manufacturer has demonstrated a relentless will to win that has yet to be challenged in the modern era.

(Audi Motorsport)
The winning No. 2 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-tron quattro driven by Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer.

(Audi Motorsport)
The winning No. 2 car leaves the pits during the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

(Audi Motorsport)
Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Sport), with André Lotterer.

(Audi Motorsport)

(Audi Motorsport)
The No. 3 Audi Sport Team Joest R18 e-tron quattro driven by Filipe Albuquerque, Marco Bonanomi and Oliver Jarvis was hit at high speed by a Ferrari GT car on the Hunaudières straight during a safety car period in pouring rain. The powertrain of the R18 was too heavily damaged for the car to continue, and the car was withdrawn just 90 minutes into the race.

(Audi Motorsport)
Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer.

(Audi Motorsport)
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is unlike any other motor race in the world.



Publisher's Note: As part of our continuing series celebrating the "Glory Days" of racing, we're proud to present another noteworthy image from the Ford Racing Archives. - PMD

(Photo by Dave Friedman, courtesy of the Ford Racing Archives)
Henry Ford II at Le Mans in 1966. After months of negotiations with Enzo Ferrari for the Ford Motor Company to buy the Italian boutique auto manufacturer in 1963, Ferrari pulled out at the eleventh hour because he refused to give up control of his racing team, royally pissing-off HFII. From that moment on, Henry Ford II vowed to kick Ferrari's ass and ordered Ford operatives to spend "whatever it takes" to win at Le Mans. Clearly a different time and a different era, with nary a mention of ROI uttered, Ford won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four straight years, in 1966 (Ford Mk II), 1967 (Ford Mk IV), 1968 and 1969 (Ford GT40). The first two years were with factory entries, the last two were with factory-supported entries from John Wyer Automotive Engineering Ltd. in England.

Publisher's Note: Like these Ford racing photos? Check out www.fordimages.com. Be forewarned, however, because you won't be able to go there and not order something. - PMD