R18 (Germany, 2011)

The Audi R18 is the winning car of the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours. Audi unveiled the challenger to race for the brand’s tenth victory at the endurance race.

Specifically developed for the most famous 24 hour race in the world, the R18 marked a new chapter in the history of success of Audi at Le Mans. Since 1999 the German brand had won the race nine times with three different cars: the R8Audi R8Germany, 2005 > present3 photos
, R10 TDIAudi R10 TDIGermany, 2006 > present4 photos
and R15 TDIAudi R15 TDIGermany, 2010 > present9 photos
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In 2011 Audi was contesting for the first time since 1999 with a closed coupe. The R18 is powered by a 3.7-liter V6 TDI unit, in line with the diesel concept that had its first victory in 2006. New engine regulations requested a reduction of the size of the powertain, in order to achieve a substantial reduction of engine power.

While developing the new R18, engineers at Audi Sport used the experience gathered from the 1999 R8CAudi R8CGermany, 1999 > present, the 2003 LMP1 Bentley and even a DTM racing car. For the chassis and the aerodynamics of the R18, the know-how was taken from the R8, the R10 TDI and the R15 TDI, while the use of identically sized front and rear wheels will be a first in an Audi Le Mans sports car.

One of the main features on this Le Mans prototype is the headlights which are completely built with LEDs with optimized amount of light. Developed in close cooperation between Audi Sport and the Technical Development (TE) division of AUDI AG, the new generation of headlights debuts at Le Mans as warm-up for future use in Audi’s production vehicles.

Having started developing the new R18 in mid 2009, Audi has been running the V6 TDI engine on the dynamometers since the summer of 2010. With Allan McNish at the wheel, the R18 competed the first testing on a racetrack at the end of November 2010.

The Audi R18 made its racing debut at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) 6 Hours on May 8, 2011.

The #2 Audi R18 driven by Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoit Tréluyer won the 79th 24 Hours of Le Mans. After two crashes by Audi, Peugeot took places two through five at the checkered flag.

Allan McNish crashed with his R18 46 minutes into the race when he collided with a Ferrari 458 in a corner. Despite the violent nature of the crash, no one was injured.

About 7 hours and 41 minutes into the race Mike Rockenfellar also crashed while passing a Ferrari sending him into a spin and backwards into the the armco. Rockenfellar was able to exit the car but was immediately taken to the hospital for overnight observation.