Confirmed: Audi commits two R18 E-Tron Quattros to final Sebring race for LMP1 cars

Filed under: Motorsports, Audi

We were baffled a few weeks back when the American Le Mans Series and Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series announced new classes that will make up their combined racing program in 2014. Gone from the list is the Le Mans Prototype class, otherwise known as LMP1. The LMP1 class has long been the top dog of endurance racing, both in Europe and the US, so we couldn't figure out why this newly minted racing series was jettisoning it like yesterday's donuts.

It appears as if Audi is confused by the move as well. The German brand has announced it will participate in this year's ALMS opening round, the famed 12 Hours of Sebring, as it does every year, and bringing two Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro hybrid race cars with which to compete. Unlike every other year, Audi is treating this year's race as its potential swan song in this famous Florida race.

There's a good reason that Audi is so fond of the 12 Hours of Sebring, as it debuted the gas-powered R8R there in 1999 that kicked off its participation in the upper echelon of endurance racing. The R8R preceded the R8, which debuted at Sebring in 2000 and won that race, starting an amazing career for that car that included five more wins at Sebring. The R8 was followed by the R10, then the R15 and R18, and finally we wind up at today's R18 E-Tron Quattro - all winners, all dominant, all exciting to watch.

Along with the two R18 E-Tron Quattros doing the actual racing, one of which will be a new updated version, Audi is bringing an R8 from the 2000-2005 era, an R10 TDI from the 2006-2008 era, an R15 TDI from 2009 and the R18 TDI that won there last year, all for the enjoyment of spectators who've watched Audi dominate this race, winning it outright in 10 of the last 12 years.

Though Audi has long since abandoned campaigning the whole ALMS season, it was still usually good for at least the season opener in Sebring, which provided a nicely timed testing opportunity ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, if not a couple of other races on the calendar. Unfortunately, with the demise of LMP1 in American endurance racing, March 16 in Sebring, Florida may be the last time for a while that we see Audi dominate an endurance race on American soil. Let's hope ALMS and Grand-Am find a solution.

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Audi commits two R18 E-Tron Quattros to final Sebring race for LMP1 cars originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 23 Jan 2013 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2013/01/23/audi-commits-two-r18-e-tron-quattros-to-final-sebring-race-for-l/

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