Since April, they have been the front runners: Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer (CH/D/F) will start the second half of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season with Audi as the leaders of the standings. At Austin in the U.S. state of Texas, Audi is aiming to continue its string of success in the United States.
The round in the U.S. is of major importance to Audi. The American audience loves sports car races and with nine sports car title wins in succession since the 2000 season, Audi has a firm place in the heart of the U.S. racing community. In the country’s automobile market, the four rings are popular as well. In July, demand for the company’s models increased by 20.8 percent and from January to July, growth amounted to 12.4 percent. As a result, Audi’s market share, as in 2014, has again been growing twice as fast as the total U.S. market.
It has been three and a half years since the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) held its first event in the United States – at Sebring in March 2012. Since 2013, the newly built circuit at Austin has been the track for the U.S. races on the WEC calendar. So far, Audi has been unbeaten in these North American rounds with the LMP race car. “Obviously, it’s our aim to battle for victory again this time,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “In the first half of the season, we saw that the efficiency regulations allow for really major development steps. The teams have been getting better and better at tapping this potential. The technological progress has been significant, which leads to shifts from race to race.” After Audi won the first two World Championship rounds in the United Kingdom and Belgium, its rivals have become stronger than before.