<< Prev Page 2 of 3 Next >> Opting to run the 2011-specification in the FIA World Endurance Championship season-opener at Sebring, the R18 e-tron quattro and Ultra did not debut until round two at Spa. Unfortunately there was no serious opposition as Peugeot had suddenly left the sport earlier in the year and Toyota was not quite ready yet. Audi scored a 1-2-3-4 victory with the two e-tron quattros sandwiched by the pair of Ultras. The hybrids had run particularly strong early in the race when the track was still quite wet.
At the official Le Mans Test a month later, the new Audis were subjected to the first serious test as Toyota joined the fray with their all-new, petrol-hybrid powered TS030. The six works cars were surprisingly close with the R18 e-tron quattros leading the way. Allan McNish's quickest time of 3:25.927 was nearly two seconds faster than his best lap in the R18 TDI at the 2011 Test. In qualifying nearly a fortnight later, the e-tron quattro once again set the pace, only this time it was André Lotterer in the #1, who was fastest of all with a lap of 3:23.787.
Early in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Audis looked to walk away with the race but as the evening fell the two Toyotas clawed back the deficit and one even briefly grabbed the lead. Sadly for the race, it all went horribly wrong for the Japanese team as one car crashed out and the other was hit by mechanical issues. The four remaining Audis did make a genuine effort to race for the win, resulting in some exciting moments. In the end it was the #1 e-tron quattro that grabbed the first ever win for a hybrid at Le Mans.
In the first two of the remaining five rounds of the FIA WEC, Audi fielded one each of the R18 variants, while the last three were disputed by two e-tron quattros. Toyota bounced back from Le Mans and despite running just a single car, they scored three victories. The other two wins and the World Championship were for the Le Mans wining squad of Fassler, Tréluyer and Lotterer. So in its first season of racing, the innovative R18 e-tron quattro won both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and all of the silverware at the end of the year. << Prev Page 2 of 3 Next >>
Ultimatecarpage.com
> Cars by brand
> Germany
> Audi
Racing cars
> LMP
Opting to run the 2011-specification in the FIA World Endurance Championship season-opener at Sebring, the R18 e-tron quattro and Ultra did not debut until round two at Spa. Unfortunately there was no serious opposition as Peugeot had suddenly left the sport earlier in the year and Toyota was not quite ready yet. Audi scored a 1-2-3-4 victory with the two e-tron quattros sandwiched by the pair of Ultras. The hybrids had run particularly strong early in the race when the track was still quite wet.