Audi R10: Diesel win at Sebring points the way!

We found a very interesting piece over at SpeedTV about how the victory of Audi's diesel race car at Sebring, the Audi R10, points the way. The way to more relevant technology.
A must read for all Audi lovers!

Saturday’s 12 Hours of Sebring was more than just an impressive -- and convincing -- victory for Audi’s new R10 turbo diesel. It points the way for a return to relevant, cutting-edge technology in motorsports, emphasis on the word “relevant.”

It used to be that race cars of all shapes and sizes and categories lead the way in technological development. From the rear view mirrors on the Marmon Wasp Ray Harroun raced to victory in the inaugural Indianapolis 500 to the disc brakes and fuel injection that supplanted brake drums and carburetors (in most forms of racing, anyway) in the 1950s and ‘60s to the radial tires, on-board computers and composite materials of more recent times, motorsports has blazed countless new technical trails for the automotive industry.

Given the fact that 50 percent of all new cars sold in Europe are diesel-powered and that the United States is mandating clean diesel fuel standards as we speak, the knowledge gained by Audi and, next year, Peugeot with their oil-burners will have a relevance to the auto industry and consumers far surpassing Ferrari’s latest barge board, Champ Car’s new Panoz DP01 or NASCAR’s bold move into the 1970s with plans to introduce unleaded gasoline.

Will the Audi R10’s success send millions of NASCAR fans to their auto dealers in search of diesels? Hardly. But have no doubt Audi’s Sebring win registered with a significant number of motorsports fans who do not count themselves among the NASCAR faithful. And when Audi and Peugeot advertise the success of their turbo diesels from Sebring to Le Mans in the coming years, it will register with the public at large, the vast majority of whom do not spend Sundays glued to the television watching Nextel Cup or, for that matter, Formula 1, Champ Car, IndyCar, Grand-Am or even the American Le Mans Series.

I only use hybrid engines as an example. My point is that Audi (along with the ACO and ALMS/IMSA) is already reaping the rewards of using motorsports as a platform to develop state-of-the-art technology with real world applications. In my opinion, other auto manufacturers and racing series seeking to establish (or re-establish) their niche in a NASCAR-crazy environment would do well to follow suit.

Related news: GermanCarBlog, P4MR, Audi R10

Source: Speed TV

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