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Audi has released the first image of the new R15 TDI Le Mans Prototype racer at this year’s 12 Hours of Sebring in March and 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. The two championship which the R15 TDI will take a part are the replacement to the American and European Le Mans.

Audi R15 TDI is the new diesel-powered prototype car. The new Audi R15 TDI has a new front end with an elevated nose that features two supports extending down to the pavement-scraping front chin spoiler that making different from the previous the R10 and the R8. Audi R15 TDI’s front design is just like F1, without enclosed cockpit. But the design is not only Audi R15 TDI’s monopoly. There are also Peugeot with their 908 HDi.

Audi R15 TDI’s predecessors the R10 and R8 have won eight times at the 12 Hours of Sebring where the new R15 TDI will come to debut on March 21. The driver team are still the same as last year: defending Le Mans winners Dindo Capello (Italy), Tom Kristensen (Denmark) and Allan McNish (Scotland) in one car and Lucas Luhr, Mike Rockenfeller and Marco Werner in the second car.

The bad news for Audi is their competitors take a step ahead. Acura now competing against Audi in the LMP1 class and Aston Martin joining the fray in June at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, while Audi R15 TDI will only be campaigned twice.

Press Release

Two new Audi R15 TDI at Sebring opener
- Race debut of new diesel sports car on 21 March
- 12-hour race in Florida is stern test for Le Mans
- Audi Sport Team Joest with proven driver teams

INGOLSTADT, Germany, Feb 10, 2009 - The eagerly awaited first race of the new diesel sports car from AUDI AG draws ever closer: Audi Sport Team Joest contests the notorious 12-hour race at Sebring, Florida on 21 March with two Audi R15 TDI. The US endurance classic will act as stern test and dress rehearsal for the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 13 /14 June 2009.

The new Audi R15 TDI is packed with numerous technically innovative detail solutions and differs significantly from its predecessor model the R10 TDI which was undefeated at Le Mans. The first tests with the new LMP1 prototype have been successfully completed.

“So far the R15 TDI has performed as we expected,” explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Now it must also prove itself in race conditions. Sebring is a particularly hard race and is therefore perfectly suited to reveal even the smallest of weaknesses.”

Proven drivers sit at the wheel of the two new prototypes. One driver line-up is formed by defending Le Mans winners Dindo Capello (Italy), Tom Kristensen (Denmark) and Allan McNish (Scotland). The Germans Lucas Luhr, Mike Rockenfeller and Marco Werner take turns at the wheel of the sister R15 TDI. Audi Sport Team Joest competed last year at Sebring in this formation.

Every new Le Mans Prototype from AUDI AG celebrated its race debut at the race track in the heart of Florida. In Audi’s first ever sports car race in 1999
Audi Sport Team Joest claimed a podium position first time out with the Audi R8R. A year later the Audi R8 triumphed on its debut at Sebring. On the premiere of the R10 TDI in 2006 Audi landed the first victory worldwide for a diesel powered sports car in an important endurance race.

The brand with the four rings has won the 12-hour race at Sebring, which also forms the opening race of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), a total of eight times, the last time in 2007.

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