Audi has something to celebrate today. The automaker has taken the top two spots at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Audi R-18 e-tron quattro diesel hybrid. The win also marks the first time that a hybrid has ever taken the top spot.
Audi has something to celebrate today. The automaker has taken the top two spots at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Audi R-18 e-tron quattro diesel hybrid. The win also marks the first time that a hybrid has ever taken the top spot.
The four Audi R18 cars from Audi Sport Team were the quickest and most reliable vehicles and after 24 hours occupied positions one, two, three and five. “By achieving this further success at the world’s most important endurance race our engineers demonstrated their high technological expertise in a particularly impressive way,” commented Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi.
“With the e-tron quattro in combination with ultra lightweight design, we put a completely new technology on the grid and immediately won with it – this cannot be taken for granted by any means, particularly here at Le Mans. This weekend again showed the type of things that can happen in this race and how important perfect preparation is.”
All four Audi R18 cars were powered by a 510-hp 3.7L V6 TDI diesel engine with VTG mono turbocharger and a new ultra-light transmission with a carbon fiber housing.