# Audi R10 TDI Extends Championship Lead, But No Overall Win on P2-Favoring Street Course



## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

With a double victory in the LM P1 category, Audi extended the championship lead in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). The Audi R10 TDI achieved in Long Beach (US state of California) the eleventh consecutive LM P1 win. On the street circuit, Dindo Capello/Allan McNish (Italy/Scotland) recorded seventh place overall while their team-mates Emanuele Pirro/Marco Werner (Italy/Germany) achieved second in the LM P1 category and ninth overall. Finishing ahead of the two Audi R10 TDI sports-prototypes were the 150 kilograms lighter LM P2 cars. After 10 outright ALMS victories, the 650 hp Audi R10 TDI suffered its first overall defeat since making its debut 13 months ago.
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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

*Re: Audi R10 TDI Extends Championship Lead, But No Overall Win ... ([email protected])*

I thought the race was kinda stupid. The short amount of time for practice, qualifying, and the race wasn't good. And the circuit was too tight for proper racing. The Pirro, Franchitti and McNish battle was good, but that was about it. Houston and St. Pete have far better layouts to allow for racing. I mean, the final hairpin-only GT2 cars had an easy time getting through it. Unless the ALMS gets a finacial/publiciy benefit out of it, I say scrap it unless they get some concessions(track modifications, more track time, longer race being the main ones).
And then there's Houston. CBS doesn't even have sameday/next day tape like they did last year.  Which means that I'll have to wait until the 29th to see it. No wonder the ALMS doesn't get the press attention that NASCAR does. Of course, NASCAR has Speed Channel/Fox News Corp. in their pockets, which doesn't help, but that's another story.
Porsche was bound to win sooner or later. But I don't understand the thinking behind the LMP2 class. Aren't the cars supposed to be cheaper? An RS Spyder cost as much as an Audi R8 did. Granted, if you pay about $1 million for a race car, it damn well better be capable of race wins, but a million bucks for an LMP2? Gimme a break. And the ACO instigated restictor reduction for Le Mans and the LMS was because of this car, am I right, even though it is yet to race there?
I don't agree with what IMSA and the ACO have been up to. If they don't agree with eachother, why not go your separate ways? I already know how to fix some of this stuff. Make the LMP2's run metal brakes, and ban traction control for all classes. I guess that I'll just see what(if anything) gets said on Wind Tunnel about this.
Bottom Line: Audi's overall win streak has come to an end. Maybe the Utah GP will show where everyone reall is.


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## 16v (Aug 4, 1999)

*Re: Audi R10 TDI Extends Championship Lead, But No Overall Win ... (chernaudi)*


_Quote, originally posted by *chernaudi* »_Unless the ALMS gets a finacial/publiciy benefit out of it, I say scrap it unless they get some concessions 

uh? They do! The Long Beach GP has for years been one of the biggest events in one of the biggest viewing markets. Getting on the ticket for that race weekend was a big deal

I enjoyed watching the race last night, why you ask? Because it was different and required the teams to adapt and think outside the box. Short spurts of track into very tight corners, time constraints, and whoa... the fuel game. Everyone has been crying about Audi stampeeding the field and now the complaint is that the track was poorly designed? You can only take so many wide open highspeed events

btw- anyone else notice the R10 dash ASR lights going nuts coming off the corners? They were really trying hard to get the power down and grunt their way out of the turns


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

*Re: Audi R10 TDI Extends Championship Lead, But No Overall Win ... (16v)*

I thought it was good strategy to split the cars up as they did. Had Pirro not been knocked out, things might have been very different. Interesting thing about this race is that it was as much a matter of chance (if there's a yellow flag to change drivers and refuel) as it was smart strategy.


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

*Re: Audi R10 TDI Extends Championship Lead, But No Overall Win ... ([email protected])*

I mean, the prototypes(all of them) and the GT1 cars(OK, the Corvettes), had trouble going through that last corner. And the track was too narrow for real racing. And the fact that Houston was another street race next weekend(that we won't be able to see for two weeks), it's just dumb if you ask me.
I mean, 1 or 2 street courses is fine. But having a third of the races being street courses-with three in a row-is kinda daft. And sharing the races with CART Champ Car or the IRL Indy car series-which the ALMS had been beating in the TV ratings for a while now-limit's track time too much. I hope that Mid-Ohio and Road America-being permanent circuits-that sharing the race weekend won't result in such limited track time.
I also wonder what the future of the 3.6 FSI Turbo V8 will be for the ALMS?-A Lola B07/10 has been adapted for it, and will debut at the next LMS round in Spain(Swiss Spirt missed Monza as the car arrived to late to be completely converted).


_Modified by chernaudi at 10:24 PM 4-15-2007_


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## lectrolink (Dec 13, 2006)

*Re: Audi R10 TDI Extends Championship Lead, But No Overall Win ... ([email protected])*

I was at Long Beach to watch the American LeMans Series... first time for this series in Long Beach. It was great watching the pair of Audi R10 prototypes (Diesel, TDI) blast around this tight road course. In the end, they didn't do so well, finishing 8th and 9th overall, but it wasn't because the cars were slow. They were turning in lap times of about 1 min 15 seconds...exactly the same time as the fastest P2 class cars (Porsche & Acura), which are 330 lbs lighter, but with less horsepower. This time was only six seconds slower over the 1.97 mile course than the fastest Champ cars during qualifying. The R10s were developed originally for a big, long course like LeMans, so they were at somewhat of a disadvantage here, although, as I said, they did not give up anything on lap times compared to the P2 cars; they just ran into bad luck with a flat tire due to a nudge and spin for one and problems pitting for the other. 
But it was the first time I saw these cars run. They stand apart from other cars not only because of their gorgeous silver and crimson paint scheme, but because they are super quiet for a race car. No howling like the others. 
All in all, an exciting race with a lot of shoulder-to-shoulder action. Glad to see this kind of road racing becoming more widespread. Next ALMS race is Houston. That course appears to be similar in some ways to Long Beach, so look for another race that will depend on strategy and consistency with no mistakes or mishaps.


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

*Re: Audi R10 TDI Extends Championship Lead, But No Overall Win ... (lectrolink)*

I think that's the interesting thing about the ALMS season this year. There's a whole range of parks and race lengths that favor different cars and teams differently. Personally, I think this race was good for everyone involved. Yeah, it may have been a loss, but the exposure for the companies and for the ALMS in such a hot automotive market is a big deal.


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## Tanner74 (Jul 28, 2003)

I liked the race and was good to see the race back at Long Beach. 
Definitely a short technical street circuit. Very limited spots where you could pass. Make a mistake around a corner or elsewhere? Lose a position easily.


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

*Re: (Tanner74)*

Someone on AudiWorld asked why Audi doesn't race the R8s on the street courses. I think that this link gives some insight: http://forums.audiworld.com/ra...phtml
And IMSA probably wouldn't do much to roll back the 35 kgs ballast or open up the '03 spec. air restictor.
And I don't think that Audi want's to spend a lot of money on cars that they want to become museum pieces gettin' trashed in an accident.


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

*Re: (chernaudi)*

Thanks for posting the link. I think, in as much as Audi is concerned, the R8 has been retired.


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

*Re: ([email protected])*

Someone ought to post a video/link or McNish doing that burnout he did getting out of the pit-random thought.


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## 16v (Aug 4, 1999)

*Re: (chernaudi)*


_Quote, originally posted by *chernaudi* »_Someone ought to post a video/link or McNish doing that burnout he did getting out of the pit-random thought.

go for it


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

*Re: (16v)*

I would if I could find it-haven't yet.


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