# Lucas Luhr Strengthens Audi driver Squad



## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

*- 27-year old German is new Audi factory driver
- Luhr to debut in 2007 DTM
- Races also planned in diesel sportscar Audi R10 TDI*
German Lucas Luhr will strengthen the Audi driver squad in both the DTM and in sportscar events with the revolutionary Audi R10 TDI Diesel sportscar during the forthcoming 2007 motorsport season. 

The 27-year old is a product of the Porsche "star of tomorrow” scheme. He made his breakthrough in 1999 after winning the Porsche Carrera Cup. In the following seven years, the youngster from Koblenz developed into one of the world’s best sportscar drivers. In 2002 and 2003, he won the GT title in the American Le Mans Series, and the LM P2 championship in 2006. The Monaco-based German is one of the most successful drivers in the US sportscar racing scene with 23 class wins to his credit. Furthermore, Luhr won the FIA GT Championship in 2004 and is record holder at the Sebring 12 Hours with five class victories. He has also already mounted the top step of the podium at the Le Mans 24 Hours. 

"At Audi I finally get the chance to fight for overall victories,” says Lucas Luhr. "I’m incredibly pleased about the DTM, the Audi R10 TDI and the opportunity to work with Audi Sport. It is a special honour for me to be able to drive for such a fascinating and successful marque like Audi.”


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

*Re: Lucas Luhr Strengthens Audi driver Squad ([email protected])*

It was easy to guess that Lucas and Rocky would come to Audi in one form or another-there were rumor, particularly about Mike, coming to Audi since LM last June. 
I don't really see Audi making any substancial driver changes in the factory cars, but there are rumors of a semi factory effort from Champion Racing( nothing announced on that yet, even though Joest technical director Ralf Juttner said it could easily happen). Maybe they'll end up there for the endurance races.
And Lucas' GT car experience should serve him well in DTM.


_Modified by chernaudi at 2:28 PM 12-18-2006_


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

*Re: Lucas Luhr Strengthens Audi driver Squad (chernaudi)*

So you think they'll run LMES this year?


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

*Re: Lucas Luhr Strengthens Audi driver Squad ([email protected])*

Juttner said that LMS isn't likely for now, due to lack of exposure in that series, and they'd be singing to the choir as far as the R10 promoting diesel technology. Audi needs to promote TDI where they really need to-here. He also said that there'd be 2 factory cars, and maybe 1-2 semi factory cars( Champion Racing?).


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

*Re: Lucas Luhr Strengthens Audi driver Squad (chernaudi)*

Hopefully they'll add to the LMP1 field. With Dyson leaving, it's getting lonely.


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

*Re: Lucas Luhr Strengthens Audi driver Squad ([email protected])*

Well, I can't say that I couldn't see it coming. Dyson has had far more success in LMP2( or LMP 675 as it was know at the time). And they feel that the problems with the Lola AERs can't be quickly overcome. It's also been said that they're PO'd at the ACO for giving diesels too much of an advantage(you yourself said that if they didn't dangle the carrot, Audi and Peugeot probably wouldn't build diesel cars for LM). 
And the sad thing is, the R10 could just as easily be winning with the R8's 3.6 TFSI V8. Even at 35kgs heavier,and with about 50 less hp, the R8 kicked the ever lovin' crap out of them. So what should they've expected when the R10 came back? Sadly,to get their butts handed to them! Its a sad thing when politics get in the way of the sport( just like in NASCAR up until a few years ago) and someone using something as an excuse to blame one for being superior, whilst not taking into account the enivetable(which I've just mentioned with the R8 and its engine in the R10). 
I mean, what else can IMSA do about it without the guys at the ACO wanting to beat their heads in? Run spec cars and kill sportscar racing in the ALMS/LM 24 fans' accepted sense of sportscar racing(just like NASCAR owned, and SCCA/NASCAR controled Grand Am did with the Daytona Prototypes)? I mean I like NASCAR, but I don't think it's spec car atmosphere doesn't really have a place in the ALMS.
And as far as Champion Racing goes, they could be running the R8 for all I know-neither they or Audi have said anything yet(however, if IMSA lets them race at 900kgs, and with the '02 air restictor, that might settle the diesel vs. gasoline equivalncy question. It's very unlikely at best, but it's a thought).

_Modified by chernaudi at 7:45 PM 12-19-2006_


_Modified by chernaudi at 7:48 PM 12-19-2006_


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## .:RDriver (Oct 4, 1999)

*Re: Lucas Luhr Strengthens Audi driver Squad (chernaudi)*

Umm, lets be honest here. I dont know what your definition of "kicked the ever loving crap" means, but I certainly wouldnt say that applied to the R8 and Dyson.
If you simply mean that the Dyson cars were still being developed and having serious reliability issues which allowed the R8 to win the race, then I guess you can say that.
However, the R8 DIDNT beat the crap out of them on the track.
They faced each other three times and it was the very well sorted and dominant Audi against a Lola that was in its 2nd, 3rd, and 4th races EVER. Remember, Audi didnt do too hot its first year of debuting a car.
At Houston Dyson was the fastest car in qualifying and lead the first 11 laps before having issues and dealing with them the rest of the race.
At Mid Ohio, Dyson was the fastest race lap and again they had their teething issues during the race.
At Lime Rock, same thing. Fastest qualifier and serious issues during the race.
The Lola showed that it easily had the speed to compete with the Audi, it simply did not have the reliability.
So in my eyes, that wasnt Audi "kicking the ever loving crap" out of Dyson, that was Audi dealing with a very fast and reliable car while Dyson was still dealing with issues of development.
I realize a lot of folks here have a true love for Audi, but you got to call a spade a spade here and be realistic when you talk about who is kicking whose butt.


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

*Re: Lucas Luhr Strengthens Audi driver Squad (.:RDriver)*

True, the Lola had speed, but doing it for one lap and doing it for 3 hours are two very different things. At Houston, the R8 had the fastest overall race lap. And it's not like Dyson and Lola hadn't faced these problems before-they were just magnfied, with this being an LMP1 car, and the R8 supposidly being crippled. In reality, the regs didn't really slow the R8 any, and it didn't help that even Lola themselves said that the car was underdeveloped. And with Audi saying the same thing about the R10 pre LM, and with the R8 restricted to the point that it wasn't gonna get much faster that in '04 and '05, that's saying something. 
And even with IMSA's competition adjustments, things didn't get much better, at least for long. Both cars ran well at Road America and Mosport, but faltered badly at PLM( suspension failure caused the #20 to become nearly totaled in a accident, and #16 handgrenaded an engine shortly there after). And, as with the usual bad luck Dyson has had in the ALMS, they failed when they were running well. 
One of the problems I feel is that the Lola was designed to be run on super smooth race tracks-of which there are few and far between in NA. Where as the Audis are designed to be not just jack of all trades, but master of all. That same durability that allows the car to be nearly totaled and quickly repaired, allows the R8 to survive the rigors of street racing and the like(besides, 3/4 of the Sarthe Circuit at Le Mans is public roads). 
And gearboxes have also been a problem with the Dyson Lolas. I don't think that it seems like a good idea for car builders to build their own gearboxes themselves. It's not just Lola-in the LMS, Courage builds their own gearboxes, and atleast 2 out of 3 cars failed to finish in all five races this year. And Porsche have had tranny trouble early in the '06 ALMS season. Maybe that's why VW farms out the manufacture of their gearbox internals to outside companies( like Ricardo for the R8, and X Trac for the R10, Bentley Speed 8, and the VW Race Toureg TDI Dakar Rally vehicle). 
In the end did Dyson get their butts handed to them. Kinda. Speed was never really the problem( except at Laguna Seca, where, for some reason, they've never done particulary well at in recent years). But the same problems kept popping up, not just this year, but they were oftin the same types of problems that plagued them with the old Lola EX257. I think that they finally got frustrated enough and gave up on their LMP1 program. Although they didn't say it, they weren't PO'd at IMSA, or really with Audi it seems, but the ACO. So I also say that we won't see Rob and Chris at LM any time soon. They know that Pescarolo could kick the crap out of them if Henri wants to, so imagine what Audi with the R10 can do, especally at LM and the other endurance races. But atleast Dyson went down fighting.
I apologize if I upset you, but if at the end of the day Dyson didn't have anything for the R8( or if they did, they couldn't do anything with it), what would've made them think that they could take on the R10 seemingly when nothing short of a miracle or a drastic change of luck would put them on top of the hill?
_Modified by chernaudi at 9:26 PM 12-19-2006_

_Modified by chernaudi at 9:34 PM 12-19-2006_


_Modified by chernaudi at 9:35 PM 12-19-2006_


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## .:RDriver (Oct 4, 1999)

*Re: Lucas Luhr Strengthens Audi driver Squad (chernaudi)*

You didnt offend me, but you have to be realistic in your statements.
You make it sound like the restricted R8 was still so much faster than the Lola that Dyson didnt have a chance. That simply was not true in any way. The car is a completely different car than the older car and they were fighting with the standard teething issues all year long. 
I guess I just dont agree with your apparent definition of "kicking the crap" out of someone.
Did Dyson ever really challenge Audi? Not really. Did Audi beat them on a regular basis? Yes.
Did they kick the crap out of them...I dont think I'd agree with that.
When the Lolas werent having issues, they were fast and could challenge the Audis. 
If I'm faster than you running, but every time we race I trip. Then you continually beat me, but you dont kick the crap out of me
In the end, I'm not surprised Rob finally gave up on the Lolas, you're right, they have had issues for some time. I also know this was an unexpected development for them to run the Spyders. As of Laguna, Porsche was quite positive that there would be no one but Penske running in the ALMS during '07, so this deal definitely came together in the last month or so. As a matter of fact, Dyson was testing with the Lola just last November 22nd.

_Quote »_22nd November 17.55
Dyson Racing completed their first close-season test at Sebring with Grand-Am GT champion Andy Lally joining Chris Dyson at the Florida track last Thursday.
The test went incredibly well last week,” commented Chris Dyson. "I completed over 100 trouble-free laps on our first day evaluating tires and dampers, and then we did another marathon test the second day and logged 121 laps on the latest spec AER V8, which ran flawlessly.”
“Andy Lally joined us for the second day of the test and did an excellent job, just as he did a few years ago in our 675 car.”
AER boss, Mike Lancaster was also pleased with the test, saying: "The idea of the test from the engine point of view was to run some new engine components to improve durability and performance, and to run some new electronics.
“On the mechanical side, we’ve made a fairly significant change to the scavenge pump assembly, to make it tougher for 2007, and we’ve also worked on the cylinder head sealing to make that more robust."
“The spec. for 2007 is now settled and for next year we’ve gained some performance and improved the durability. On the electronics, we’ve changed the wastegate and developed some new software for it. Basically there are now no adjustments on the wastegate, the electronics just tells it what to do," continued Lancaster.
“We’ve also made some inroads with the traction control, and that worked very well last week too.”
AER has also been developing its LMP2 engine, with a completely new coil system to overcome any misfires from "that area and we’ve completely changed the wastegate design, to make it more robust,” adds Mike Lancaster.
Dyson Racing are evaluating drivers to race with the team next season after the retirement of James Weaver.

And no, you wont see them at Le Mans any time soon, Rob has made it quite clear he has no desire to go to that race for some time and he hasnt liked the ACO for some time either.
Anyway, I just like to see some realistic views. While Audi deserves all they have achieved, its very easy to just say that they are dominating everyone else, when in reality, how much has been Audi domination and how much has been their rivals not being up to the task? 
A little of both I would say. Many times they have created their own luck with good strategy, other times things have just gone their way. They have often not been the fastest, but still won the race. They have often had problems with the car, while others have had more problems. Heck, just at Laguna, both cars were losing fuel pressure at the end of the race. Had it been a lap or two longer, they would not have won...there is some luck involved as well.








Audi has dominated in terms of wins, I would say they have been less dominant actually out on the track.
I would also say that the restricted R8 did not "kick the living crap" out of the new Lola, it was never really a fair fight.


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## chernaudi (Oct 6, 2006)

*Re: Lucas Luhr Strengthens Audi driver Squad (.:RDriver)*

To be honest, the Lola easily could've been a great car. But, whilst able to be as fast as the R8, or at times the R10, at the end of the day, they couldn't really do much of anything to stem the tide. I wasn't intending to compair the B06/10 to the EX 257, aside from they share the same manufacturer and cheif designer( similar to the R8 and R10). But several of the problems were similar to their old cars( transmissions, and suspension failures). You'd think that a heavier car would be able to absorb more punishment.
In modern sportscar racing, you need the total package to have the best chance of success. Audi has mastered this to perfection. The Lola just wasn't to that point yet. And it wasn't a thing where there was one problem, or really nothin in particular wrong with the car. Overall, the Audis(namely the R10) was still better overall. Your odds of using your strongest asset to beat something that's the best overall is slim to none, to definiently possible, depending on circumstances. The R8 and to some degree( which is still not really known) the R10 are tanks. The Lola just wasn't able to reach the point of near total reliability yet. Also, there aren't a lot of Lolas in the ALMS, so how was Dyson able to get info from other teams( granted, Audi is in much the same situlation, but they more heavily tested the R10, and used as much experience with the R8 as the possibly could). Maybe the B05/40 LMP2 car origins also had something to do with reliability, just like how the old EX 257/B160 was an old LMP 675 car. Could this have had something to do with their problems?
I'm also wondering something too. It has to do this time with the AER engine. It appearently uses a flatplane crankshaft. Could the vibrations caused by this have done damage to the rear suspension and driveline? The R8 used a flatplane crank, and didn't seem to have problems.
In the end, did Dyson get their rears handed to them? Statistically, yes. On paper, Audi won almost all the races. To those who watched the races, this isn't necessarily true. This applies most to '04 and '05. But this year, it's not as true, as they, for various reasons, weren't as competitive( Audi factory coming back in, new car that has little to do with the old model, and a completely new powertrain). Dyson still had their moments( especially at Mosport). But it just never came together for them. And ever if observers would refute the claim that the crap was kicked out of them, I'm not 100% sure if the Dyson boys would agree. They'd probably say what I've just wrote. And that is that they ran well, but the headline say "Audi wins", and that gets kinda demoralizing after a while, especially when Audi also gets all the press( Dyson and Champion got nearly equally equally press in the sprint races, and had the same chaces of winning). 
In reality, Dyson did well all things considered. But all the headline writers seem to care about is who won anymore.


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