Audi R10 Turns Up The Heat By Turning To Bio-Fuel for LeMans

The undefeated Audi R10 is taking on the 24 hours of LeMans running solely on Bio-Fuel.

Ulrich Baretzky, Audi Sport’s head of engine technology commented “We want to use the R10 programme to develop combustion technology for a future target for us in the VW Audi Group. That is to go a step beyond oil and gas based fuels. As soon as possible we would like to use Biomass to Liquid (BTL) fuel. That means that we will be using synthetic fuels made from renewable sources. The best part is that the transformation process can be CO2 neutral. All of the C02 absorbed by the plant is burned. That’s environmentally friendly motorsport and we hope to introduce BTL fuel in 2008.”

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Neverfollow - 12/14/2006 12:44:17 PM

+1 Boost

These guys just keep reinventing this sport. Very good message to convey to the world with filterdown sure to occur with production cars in the near future. Great way to build an image!

matt635 - 12/14/2006 1:45:52 PM

-1 Boost

Who exactley have Audi competed against in there last 5 Lemans wins? As I recall there have been virtually no other factory backed teams with LMP1's for years?

1uberaudi - 12/14/2006 2:10:09 PM

-1 Boost

Audi uses the same technolgy in its cars. Stop being brainwashed by BMW,MB, and Lexus. They don't make the best cars. They can't even bet this diesel car with their gasoline enginese. Go get you an Audi and feel the difference.

07mcs - 12/14/2006 5:02:48 PM

+1 Boost

Correct. BMW thinks F1 is a better investment and that is the reason they dumped Williams to have their own Team. They bought Sauber. Toyota has their own Team, they actually came in second in Le Mans one time, with their cars being the fastest, but some kind of reliability problem prevented from wining Le Mans. Mercedes are now Part owner of Maclaren Team and Renault own their own team, which used to be Benentton. Two Driver's and Constructors World Championships as a manufacturer in 2005 and 2006. Go Alonso, Can't wait to see if you can lift up Maclaren.

07mcs - 12/14/2006 6:22:18 PM

+1 Boost

Forgot to mention Honda bought out BAR and of course Ferrari is a manufacturer team.

matt635 - 12/14/2006 6:27:23 PM

+1 Boost

BMW won lemans, they left, Audi started winning, BMW do not need to prove anything.

FWIW i'd like to see BMW back at lemans. with the facility at Hinwil i'm sure they could have a competitive car pretty quickly.

chewy - 12/14/2006 6:34:17 PM

0 Boost

Great news.

TheGenius - 12/14/2006 11:04:35 PM

-1 Boost

The other manufacturers ran away with their tails tucked in between their legs when Audi hit Lemans and they've watched for years.. afraid to compete and be embarrased. At least their behavior is a bit better than during the touring car championships when they all started whinning to the FIA after Audi crushed them weight penalties not withstanding..which led to the ban. Most manufacturers are not strategic about what they compete in. When Audis compete, they destroy the competition (F1 in the 30s), Rally in the 80s, Pikes peak records, Touring car championships, Le-mans. Companies like Toyota are all over the place, but with nothing concrete to show.. Over 300Mill/year on F1 and mid-pack results with poor reliability to match...BMW is another company that seems to be regressing in F1

Here's a cool fact: Bet you didn't know that Audi built the first car to go over 250MPH which was driven by Bernd Rosemeyer (unfortunately he died trying to beat the new record of 268mph that was set by a MBenz). Those were the days cars had open tops and no seat belts to say the least.. These guys were either crazy, brave or both!

DieselRules - 12/15/2006 8:03:29 PM

+3 Boost

RE: "They do it to get exposure and make people want that specific brand!"
I agree.
And it works.

So, can someone please let Audi know that NOW is the time to introduce Diesels to North America (right after that huge win in Le Mans) ????
Who will remember that a year or 2 from now? (besides all the Auto-spies and Edmund's crowd ... the general public will soon forget, if they haven't already)