As before at the Nürburgring, the number ‘8’ Audi R18 e-tron quattro will start round five of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) from position three. On the circuit at Austin, Texas, it will share the second row of the grid with the sister car driven by Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer.
In qualifying, air temperature of 34 degrees centigrade and 42 degrees on the tarmac gave the Audi drivers a foretaste of the 6-hour race on Saturday. “The race will make extreme demands on the drivers and cars,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Following three free practice sessions and qualifying, our drivers agree that it’s very challenging to precisely set up the car so that we’re able to drive consistently fast for six hours. And exactly that’s our aim in the race.”
Chris Reinke, Head of LMP at Audi Sport, emphasizes the progress the team has made during the course of two practice days: “After we unfortunately lost a lot of practice time on Thursday, the two Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars delivered a flawless performance in the third free practice and in qualifying. Our whole team thoroughly prepared for the race and the same goes for the drivers. We’re ready.”
