Audi R10: Continues to improve!

The Audi R10 ran 400 test laps in three days at Sebring, being already almost as quick as the Audi R8. In addition it made the fastest time at the "Sebring Winter Test".

Testing at Sebring (Florida), the new Audi R10 proved that the ambitious target of AUDI AG to fight for the overall victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours with a diesel-powered sports car is not unrealistic. Dindo Capello and Frank Biela, driving the two R10 prototypes, set the fastest times at the official "Winter Test” of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) on the last of the three days – helped also by the lower ambient temperature compared to the two previous days.

With his best time of 1m 47.308s, Dindo Capello beat the track record which was set in 2002, and was less than a second slower than the fastest lap time of the car’s successful predecessor, the R8 set during tyre testing last winter. Frank Biela achieved a personal best of 1m 48.284s after completing a different test programme.

"I felt at home in the R10 after two laps,” said Capello who drove the new diesel sports car for the first time at Sebring. "The R10 has the typical DNA of Audi. After the bad season in the DTM, it was important for me to show that I’m still fast and hungry. I know, however, that the conditions were perfect today. The track had a lot of grip and temperatures were low. At Sebring, conditions keep changing all the time. Therefore, the results are difficult to judge – especially as our strongest competitors did not run anymore on the last day.”

Please also read a great interview with with Ulrich Baretzky, Audi Sport Head of Engine Technology.

It would appear to be a surprise for many people that the V12 TDI engine in the R10 is not only very quiet, but that it produces absolutely no smoke…

Baretzky: "From the very beginning it was our target that our diesel was unrecognisable, in much the same way as our production cars, as a diesel – particularly not by a cloud of smoke, but in fact through its low noise level, by its low consumption and its performance. Our goal was to develop a low emission diesel engine and we chose to go without one or two horsepower for the benefit of smoke free running. We are also using new particle filters here at Sebring for the first time, which have proven to be extremely effective till now. My colleagues from the chassis side aren’t quite as fond of them as they are actually fairly big. However, you come away with clean fingers even if you rub the tail pipe after 20 laps. This is exactly what we wanted to achieve. Our TDI engine is powerful and clean.”

Related news: GermanCarBlog, Audi R10

Source: Fourtitude

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