Quote:
Originally Posted by alexkiller8
mmm audi has a "strange" policy about customer support.... the r10's sold to the kolles team had the engine detuned and hadn't the updates of official team; they sold purposely an uncompetitive car to don't let them run for first positions (maybe they feared that a private r10 could be faster than the old r15). I doubt that some other team will buy an audi "poor customer's" car (even if audi will do a customer program).
Different was peugeot last year, the #4 oreca 908 HDi was fully supported with updates and official drivers in LMS races, it was like the forth car of the official team.
About future plans of peugeot nobody knows, surely if they'll start a customers program, oreca will be the first choice for sure... i don't think they still trust in pescarolo after 2009 epic fails...
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Maybe Audi didn't expect Kolles to do much--his job at HRT may very well be in jeopardy at season's end in F1, and he's been fired/forced to resign from about every F1 team he's worked for, and I don't think that Audi held him in high regard even in DTM. They probably took his money, hoping that he'd become disenchanted, and fade away soon, which is what happened. I wouldn't consider anything that Kolles did as "top flight".
Audi, though, has a much closer relationship with Oreca though the R8 GT3 program, and maybe Audi has faith in Oreca to the point where they won't blatantly treat them as a "back up plan" or another team.
If you ask me, Oreca has been treated as a competitor rather than a teammate by Peugeot this year, and that might've irked Oreca enough to "visit the enemy".