LM: Audi confirms Le Mans line-up

Audi has confirmed its driver line-up for its three-car assault on the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ulrich joined race organisers the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) at a press conference this afternoon to reveal the nine men who will attempt to win back the Le Mans title from Peugeot.

The team will be spearheaded by experienced trio Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish, winners of the 2008 race, in the lead Audi R15 TDi.

With eight wins already under his belt, Kristensen is the most successful Le Mans driver of all time and the Danish driver was recently voted ‘sports car driver of the decade’ by Autosport. McNish was runner-up in that pole, while Capello’s 29 victories make him the most successful American Le Mans Series driver in history.

The second Audi R15 will be shared by Germans Timo Bernhard and Mike Rockenfeller and Frenchman Romain Dumas.

Dumas and Bernhard are both Porsche factory drivers and both raced for Audi at Le Mans last season. Rockenfeller, who won last weekend’s Daytona 24 Hours with Action Express Racing, was Le Mans Series champion with Audi in 2008 and finished fourth at La Sarthe that same year. 2010 will be his fourth Le Mans 24 Hours with Audi.

The third car will be driven by new signings Marcel Fassler, Benoit Treluyer and Andre Lotterer. All three have prior Le Mans 24 Hours experience.

"We are pleased that the ACO has accepted our three nominations for the world’s most important sports car race and that we will again be able to compete with three cars," said Dr Ulrich.

"Our stated goal is to bring back the Le Mans trophy to Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. Three cars mean three chances – and we feel that all three R15 TDI cockpits have been filled with top-class drivers.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our colleagues from Porsche for again making two of their best drivers – Timo (Bernhard) and Romain (Dumas), with whom we were very pleased at their first Le Mans race for Audi – available to us."

Audi will prepare for June’s race by competing in the Paul Ricard 8 Hours and Spa 1000kms races in the Le Mans Series.


Andy Wilkinson