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21st
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The 24 Hours of Le Mans -- one of the three most prestigious automobile races held on the planet -- will run this weekend in France. Le Mans is, with the Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix, one of three big races; the kind of win every race car driver dreams to add to his résumé.
This year marks the 90th edition of the endurance race staged on the long, 13.6km (8.45 mile) road course made up of the Bugatti permanent track and a few public roads closed to traffic.
The race that began back in 1923 has been the scene of some historic moments, good and bad. Such as the 16 victories of Porsche; the terrible 1955 accident that cost the lives of 80 people; the top-speed record of 405 km/h (252 m/h); the amazingly narrow margin of victory of just 13.8 seconds of Audi in 2011, and more.
However, this year the big question is not to find which automaker will win the race, but which Audi will cross the line in first place on Sunday afternoon.
Audi has entered three R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 prototypes in this race. So, the big question boils down to predict which car -- No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 -- will win the race? That's basically the only piece of information that's missing.
Let's face it: Honestly, Toyota is no rival for Audi. The two manufacturers faced each other twice earlier this year, and the Toyota TS030 Hybrid was no contest to the mighty turbo-diesel Audis.
Curiously, Toyota offered Audi a real challenge in the second part of last year, winning a few rounds of the World Endurance Championship. It seems evident today that German engineers have done a better job than their Japanese rivals.
Only a major and totally unexpected catastrophe would prevent Audi from scoring yet another victory at Le Mans this weekend. And that's despite the fact that the race organisers tried to equalize the performance of the petrol engine cars and their turbo diesel rivals.
So, will the 24-hour race be as exciting as watching paint dry on walls? Maybe not...
Despite all the planning and preparations, no one knows what can go wrong during such a long race. Keep in mind the 2011 edition when Audi lost two of its three cars within a few hours. Audi director of motorsport, Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich is fully aware that anything can go wrong, at any moment.
You can follow our Le Mans coverage in our “Racing” section.
This year marks the 90th edition of the endurance race staged on the long, 13.6km (8.45 mile) road course made up of the Bugatti permanent track and a few public roads closed to traffic.
The race that began back in 1923 has been the scene of some historic moments, good and bad. Such as the 16 victories of Porsche; the terrible 1955 accident that cost the lives of 80 people; the top-speed record of 405 km/h (252 m/h); the amazingly narrow margin of victory of just 13.8 seconds of Audi in 2011, and more.
However, this year the big question is not to find which automaker will win the race, but which Audi will cross the line in first place on Sunday afternoon.
Audi has entered three R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 prototypes in this race. So, the big question boils down to predict which car -- No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 -- will win the race? That's basically the only piece of information that's missing.
Let's face it: Honestly, Toyota is no rival for Audi. The two manufacturers faced each other twice earlier this year, and the Toyota TS030 Hybrid was no contest to the mighty turbo-diesel Audis.
Curiously, Toyota offered Audi a real challenge in the second part of last year, winning a few rounds of the World Endurance Championship. It seems evident today that German engineers have done a better job than their Japanese rivals.
Only a major and totally unexpected catastrophe would prevent Audi from scoring yet another victory at Le Mans this weekend. And that's despite the fact that the race organisers tried to equalize the performance of the petrol engine cars and their turbo diesel rivals.
So, will the 24-hour race be as exciting as watching paint dry on walls? Maybe not...
Despite all the planning and preparations, no one knows what can go wrong during such a long race. Keep in mind the 2011 edition when Audi lost two of its three cars within a few hours. Audi director of motorsport, Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich is fully aware that anything can go wrong, at any moment.
You can follow our Le Mans coverage in our “Racing” section.
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| Photo: Audi Motorsport |