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06.16.2002 |
With a superb 1-2-3 in front of 220,000 spectators, AUDI AG has secured a special place in the history of the Le Mans 24 Hour race. Audi is only the fifth manufacturer to win the toughest car race in the world with the same team three times in a row – and the first who achieved this proper hat-trick in the past nearly 20 years. The Audi works drivers Frank Biela, Tom Kristensen and Emanuele Pirro also wrote motorsport history: They are the first-ever driver squad that won Le Mans three times in a row. |
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The
70th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour race was anything but easy for the Audi
squad. Warm and humid summer weather made it an enormous challenge for man
and machine. The race also turned into a “tyre battle” with unusually many
punctures which cost time and scarred the bodywork on the Infineon Audi
R8 sportscars. That the punctures caused no further serious consequences
was also prevented by a system developed by Audi and tyre partner Michelin,
which warns the driver of a loss of tyre pressure.
The punctures also had an influence on the final outcome of the three Infineon Audi R8 sportscars. But as in the previous two years, Frank Biela, Tom Kristensen and Emanuele Pirro had the necessary slice of luck on their side again. They took the lead on Saturday evening, did not make a single mistake and so secured their historical third win at Le Mans. Rinaldo Capello, Johnny Herbert and Christian Pescatori achieved second position just in front of the newcomers Michael Krumm, Philipp Peter and Marco Werner who made it to the podium in their very first race with the R8. |
| Rinaldo
Capello (Infineon Audi R8 #2): “Audi has done it once again – they’ve produced
a great team job to win the historic trophy for good with an amazing 1-2-3.
For me though it was a strange race – I pushed like hell but the gap just
wouldn’t come down. To win this race is not easy – speed and reliability
alone is not enough – you also need luck. I would love to come back to try
to win Le Mans but only with Audi.” |
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