The Dynasty Continues - Audi Makes History With The First Hybrid To Win The 24 Hours Of Le Mans

As the No.1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Andre Lotterer-Marcel Fassler-Benoit Treluyer took the chequered flag at exactly 1500 hours, Audi Sport today secured their 11th victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  But this was historic for a number of reasons as it was the first win at the world’s most famous endurance race by a hybrid-powered car, it was on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the 24 Hours, and it was the first year that the famous endurance race featured as a round of the new FIA World Endurance Championship.

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mclaren428 - 6/17/2012 9:46:56 AM

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Why is only le mans covered on Autospies, and no other racing series? Seems kind of odd.

jeffy210 - 6/17/2012 12:19:17 PM

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"and the conventionally diesel-powered No.4 Audi R18 ultra in third place. " -- it's funny that not too long ago diesel was considered the "new" thing in racing and now it's conventional. Another good win for Audi.

chewy - 6/17/2012 2:16:40 PM

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The Ultra actually had the quickest lap of the race though not by much. The lower CG of the Ultra compensates for the exra boost from the somewhat limited e-tron setup. Great reliability and fuel consumption for all of the R18s though. Perhaps too many offs which was surprising but at least 1 and 2 were still racing until almost the end.

GG123 - 6/17/2012 5:13:02 PM

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Just wondering...did you ever read how and why the two Toyotas failed to finish? Ever took the time finding out how the cars actually performed before the retirement?

Here's a hint - it had nothing to do with speed or reliablity. This despite the car being rushed into the event after only 9 months of development - to race against a manufacturer which not only had been participating in the even for 12 years but also had been dominating it during this period as well.

chewy - 6/18/2012 12:32:04 PM

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Did you watch the race? The #8 retired to an accident but the #7 didn't make it halfway with engine failure that definitely counts as a reliability issue in my opinion. The Toyotas were a little slower and generally ran one lap less on fuel