Quotes after the race at Portland

Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): "Due to the situation regarding the regulations we did not have the speed to control this difficult race. But we were consistently fast enough to be at the front in the end, thanks also to a good strategy, and the problems of others. We have earned this victory yet again with great reliability, team work and consistency.”

Dindo Capello (Audi R10 TDI #2): "We struggled a little at the beginning but from the second stint we got better pace. Both Allan and I were consistently fast – we needed to be because the Zytek and Creation were very quick. I had some anxious moments lapping slower traffic but managed to keep out of trouble in the traffic which was very important. It is an awesome feeling to have won Petit three times.”

Allan McNish (Audi R10 TDI #2): "It was an extremely hard race from the start with a very fast pace of the Zytek and Creation. The race came to us as the ambient temperature dropped and our car got quicker and quicker. It feels good to have scored a diesel’s first ‘Petit’ win – like we achieved in another of America’s sportscar ‘classic’ races at Sebring. I’m very proud to have achieved a record seventh LM P1 class win in a season but obviously disappointed for the ‘sister’ car.”

Audi triumphed at Road Atlanta despite its petrol-driven LM P1 prototype competitors being allowed to race with 65 kilograms less weight making them faster than the two R10 TDI prototypes. The key to success was the reliability of the revolutionary diesel sportscar which ran throughout the 1000 miles without the slightest technical problem. Consistent lap times, a good strategy, fast pit stops and the low consumption of the V12 TDI engine made the Audi success possible.

In front of a record crowd of over 90,000 spectators, the Audi drivers had to fight hard with the petrol-driven prototypes especially in the first half of an incident-packed race. The lead kept changing before the two Audi R10 TDI cars finally settled themselves in the top two positions at the beginning of the seventh hour and looked set for a commanding 1-2 result.

Thirteen minutes before the end of the 9-hour plus long race, however, contact with a slower GT car ended the race of the R10 TDI of Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro/Marco Werner. Running in second position, Werner had to pit with damaged front left suspension. The repairs were completed exactly at the moment when Allan McNish crossed the finish line as the winner in the "sister” car.

Biela/Pirro/Werner were classified 7th overall and 4th in the LM P1 class. It was the sixth overall victory in nine races for the new ALMS Champions Dindo Capello and Allan McNish. Audi celebrated its seventh "Petit Le Mans” victory in a row – and the first one with the new R10 TDI.

Results at Road Atlanta (pdf)

1 Capello/McNish (Audi R10 TDI) 394 laps in 9h 16m 49.835s
2 Johansson/Mowlem/Kurosawa (Zytek) - 4 laps
3 Dayton/Gidley/Meira (Lola-AER) - 5 laps
4 Minassian/Primat/Campbell-Walter (Creation-Judd) - 6 laps
5 Maassen/Bernhard/Collard (Porsche) - 8 laps
6 Luhr/Dumas/Rockenfeller (Porsche) - 9 laps
7 Biela/Pirro/Werner (Audi R10 TDI) - 11 laps