The modes manage engine mapping, short bursts accelerating from corners, quattro four wheel drive, wet weather, etc. Early on in the running of the race, the #1 looked to move up the order against its rivals in the first hour and placed in fourth by the end of the hour. The #8 finished the practice session in third place behind the second of the Porsches in second and the #7 finished the session last in the hybrid class, having to cut the practice short due to alternator issues. The standings with two hours and fifteen minutes to go had the #7 Audi still leading the field with a Toyota and the #18 Porsche behind it. [58] Porsche would also have the opportunity to clinch the drivers' (with the #17 Porsche driver lineup) with a fourth-place finish or better next round. This was how the positioning for first hour would end for the Audis. Porsche won the race, their first of the season. The #8 Audi placed sixth. [24], For the 6 Hours of Nürburgring, the EoT (Equivalence of Technology) in regards to fuel flow for the LMP1 class was altered, and as a consequence, the e-tron quattro received an additional 0.5 kg/h of fuel flow to its V6 engine powerplant and a 0.5-liter reduction in fuel tank capacity from 53.7 to 54.2 liters. Both Toyota TS040 Hybrids ended up swallowing their pride; they lost a lap being trapped in the gravel while the leading Audis lapped them. The #8 and #7 finished third and fourth respectively, decreasing on their times in comparison to the first two practices. Following averaging a tenth behind was the #8, which snapped an 11-race streak starting from pole for Porsche. The #8 sat about two tenths away from the #7 car in fourth place. Porsche pitted for new racing slicks and Toyota chose to be brave and try and out last the drenched track. Through pitstops, the #19 Porsche was able to keep its lead over the two Audis trailing in second and third. By the end of the second hour, the #7 placed first and the #8 in fourth, both cars having taken a pit stop. Porsche ended up winning the race. During the qualifying session, the #7 settled in the third slot. Audi later opted not to race with the second Energy Retrieval System, which is known as a Motor Generator Unit-Heat [MGU-H] in F1, because it did not result in the performance gain engineers had hoped for and was therefore considered an unnecessary risk to take. To avoid vortices and turbulent airflow, which creates a loss of energy in the airflow (an increase in air resistance), Audi created a smaller monocoque space within the chassis structure, to allow high energy air to flow with ease through the chassis of the car. [24], The next round was the 6 Hours of Fuji. In the first two the practice sessions, Toyota led and in the last practice, Porsche led. Audi would react to the pit stop by leaving the #7 out for a few more laps until pitting in on lap 164 for fuel only, with the gap between the #7 and the #18 at fifty seconds. The two Audi cars, the #8 in fourth and the #7 in sixth were separated by two and a half seconds with the #8 running a 1:43.917. [55] In the final practice, The results from the second practice still held for the manufacturer positioning, except the #7 finished the practice ahead of the #8 in third place. Porsche claimed the manufacturers' titles with the first and second place finish. The Porsches had the first two positions. However the remaining Audi R18 (#2 of Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer) went on to win the race by 13.854 seconds. Both Porsche machines qualified second and third. Le nom a été repris pour la Audi R18 e-tron quattro , une voiture de course hybride à transmission intégrale de la catégorie LMP1 ( Sport-prototypes ) qui a remporté les 24 Heures du Mans en 2012 , 2013 et 2014 . By the end of hour two cars #1, #2, and #3 stood in positions fourth, fifth, and sixth. In the only free practice session of the race week, the #2 car set a time of 3 minutes and 23.796 seconds to place second to the lead Toyota TS040 Hybrid machine, a little over three tenths off the pace. The 2016 season began at Silverstone Circuit as it did for all the years of the FIA WEC seasons. The #8 rounded off the LMP-H category, eleven laps down. The #7 and #8 finished off the hour second and third. [26] The car became smaller in width and taller in height. In the second practice, the Porsche was once again the fastest setting a 1:39.655, with the #8 Audi being the fastest Audi, with a best time of 1:42.454. The monocoque is 4,560 millimeters in length (which is the maximum length per the regulations). The powerplant of the hybrid system was also of note, as a lithium-ion battery was used instead of a capacitor to store and supply energy. The car is exclusively designed, developed, and manufactured by Audi AG's private subsidiary company manufacturing high performance automotive parts, Audi Sport GmbH (formerly quattro GmbH),[4] and is based on the Lamborghini Gallardo and presently the Huracán platform. Silverstone was the first race on the 2014 calendar, and in addition to the competition presented by Toyota and their brand new car, the TS040 Hybrid, and Audi's sister company Porsche returned to prototype racing with the 919 Hybrid prototype racer. Audi determined to use this car for its Le Mans effort, using the race at Spa as a test bed for both the #3 car and team. [43] In the sixteenth hour, on the run to the Ford Chicane, the #7 lost its engine cover, and by the time the car pitted, with the time it lost already from the drag it carried, it was sent in the garage for short repairs. With the aid of lap traffic, the Audi was able to keep the lead. For the first time since the 1999 R8C, Audi's Le Mans prototype uses a closed cockpit design. Audi's regular season car numbers did not change from last year, as the main two cars still sported the #7 and #8. Behind was the sister car, also one lap down. The #1 would leapfrog the #2 after the end of hour three, bit eventually would regain the lead again by the end of hour five, thanks to a solid stint by McNish and the lack of hybrid drive in the #1 car. Audi chose to upgrade the prototype to the 4MJ hybrid output class from the 2MJ. The #8 and #7 would be placed in positions fourth and sixth, with the #8 setting a 1:57.716. Thirty minutes into the first hour, and reminiscent of the last round, the #7 Audi and #18 Porsche battled again, this time for second place up to this point in the race. However, the celebration for Audi would be short lived, due to a post-race scrutineering infringement, with the thickness of the skid block not complying with the regulations. The #2 would finish fourth place and the #1 would finish in fifth. In the first hour, the Porsches would break away from the Audis, but very slowly, as the Audis were not much slower. Consequently, switching to a higher MJ class reduces the fuel capacity to 49.9 liters in exchange for a higher engine power output of over 520 HP. The factory at Neckarsulm, redeveloped at a cost of €28 million, usually produces between eight and fifteen cars a day, up to a maximum daily output of 29 cars. Audi e-tron quattro de série au Mondial Paris Motor Show 2018 La deuxième version est un spider de plus petites dimensions. [9] The aerodynamics have been heavily revised in accordance with the new rules: the width is reduced by 10 cm, the height is increased by 20 mm and there is a new set of front wings. The limited round entry of the #9 car would be driven by Marco Bonanomi, Filipe Albuquerque, and René Rast. The best lap for each car during each of the qualifying sessions would average to determine each car's starting position. The third practice, however, would be dry, and that's when Audi took advantage of a faster racetrack. The Audi R8, based on the Audi Le Mans quattro concept car (designed by Frank Lamberty and Julian Hoenig) first appeared at the 2003 International Geneva Motor Show and the 2003 Frankfurt International Motor Show. Audi would have to compete with one more new competitor in Nissan Motorsports, who, after months of delay, had brought a trio of LMP1-H cars. For the qualifying run, the #8 qualified third behind the two Porsches with a time of 1 minute and 40.352 second average time and the #7 qualifying fifth. Qualifying would favor the Porsches, as they took the top two positions. Practice session two was run under wet track conditions, and this time the Toyota got the upper hand, taking the first and third positions. Fortunes would soon swing in the way of the Audi within the last hour. The #1 did not partake in qualifying, and by default, they started last in the LMP1 grid. The flywheel (in passenger side of the car) can store up to 700 kilojoules of energy. The race week would feature three qualifying sessions, taking the fastest time from each car to formulate their place on the starting grid. Twenty minutes into the race, with the aid of slower cars, the #8 and #7 were both able to reach the second place #18 Porsche and challenge for the position. There were two qualifying sessions, one for the LM GTE's and Prototype racers. Audi also made up the deficit they had in the manufacturers points, as Le Mans was a double point weighted race. The #9 was in seventh, one lap down. [citation needed], For 2012, Audi introduced an evolution of the original car called the R18 ultra and R18 e-tron quattro which won Le Mans. The first practice was run under wet conditions, and it slowed the pace of the track greatly, as the fastest time set was by the #18 Porsche of a 2-minute and 16.616 lap time. [37], Mid-engine sports car manufactured by German automobile manufacturer Audi, This article is about the road-going sports car. Not much later, the #7 would have a spin, resulting in the #2 Porsche passing it for second place. The number #9 went up to fourth position, two laps down, and the #8 was five laps down in eighth position. The 2014 season for Audi would be a year that they would face much pressure from not only a more developed and experienced manufacturer in Toyota, but opposition from the sister company of Porsche return to the top prototype class, which they have been absent from since 1998. By the end of the fifth hour, both cars moved up the order, the #1 in third and the #2 in fourth. Audi was positioned second in the manufacturers standings, fifty-three points behind Porsche going into Shanghai. Audi finished 1-2-3-4 in the race. With the retirement of the #8 car during the event and the exclusion of the #7 with the failure to comply to regulations, Audi would receive one point (from winning pole position) for Silverstone and would sit last in the manufacturer standings below Porsche and Toyota. The #1 would finish second place and the #2 would retire due to mechanical issues. The #2 led the race with the #1 behind it by the end of the first hour. In qualifying, the fastest times of the drivers assigned to a given car are averaged to form the starting grid order for every FIA WEC class. With the increased megajoule output, the electrical hybrid machine in the front axle produced more 272 BHP, which recovers energy during braking. [18][19], Both the Ultra and e-tron Quattro made their racing débuts at the 2012 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps as part of a four-car Audi entry in the FIA World Endurance Championship. This is less than the outgoing R15, but the V6 engine's fuel consumption will more than likely be lower than that of the outgoing V10 engine on the R15.