Audi drivers in 2007

[jhansen]

Originally Posted by The Badger

His motivation is product advertizing for a start .

I didnt say to force anybody mate , i said that they should be made to supply a customer team , if they already have a chassis . Not forced to build one . Get that right .

Now , i would like a few opinions on that point please , and not yours alone .

I dont want to see a fleet of any car on the grid either . But the option for a privateer to get his hands on a properly developed car seems like a good idea to me . Obvioulsy you are quite happy to see a team like Audi Sport North America win all races in one year ?

I couldnt find the *bird* symbol , so here's a trout instead

Oh good grief. My comments were made with tongue firmly planted in cheek. I guess I forgot to press the sarcasm button.

Did you assault me with a trout?

Make = force in my book. But to each their own. I guess I feel that Audi know their product and their marketing plans best. Far better than any of us. If their corporate plan is to keep the car in the factory's hands, I have no issue with that.

Requiring a manufacturer to provide a customer team is a fair enough point. I just wonder what kind of implication a rule like that would have. Less involvement?

As for the Group C days, they are gone. This is today. Different rules. Different cars. Different manufacturers involved. One has to wonder (or at least I do) if Audi could even make a profit selling R10s to privateers. Lots of variables aside from the fact that it has been done in the past. As for Porsche, they chose to build P2 cars to sell. Not sure how many they've sold, but they did not choose to make P1 cars to sell. Wonder why?

[The Badger]

Yes , they should use all their resources . After all , thats what they should all be doing . If not , they shouldnt be there . They are all there to try to win .

Audi havent done anything wrong at all . Its up to others to catch them .

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by jhansen

Oh good grief. My comments were made with tongue firmly planted in cheek. I guess I forgot to press the sarcasm button.

Did you assault me with a trout?

Make = force in my book. But to each their own. I guess I feel that Audi know their product and their marketing plans best. Far better than any of us. If their corporate plan is to keep the car in the factory's hands, I have no issue with that.

Requiring a manufacturer to provide a customer team is a fair enough point. I just wonder what kind of implication a rule like that would have. Less involvement?

As for the Group C days, they are gone. This is today. Different rules. Different cars. Different manufacturers involved. One has to wonder if Audi could even make a profit selling R10s to privateers (or at least I do). Lots of variables aside from the fact that it has been done in the past. As for Porsche, they chose to build P2 cars to sell. Not sure how many they've sold, but they did not choose to make P1 cars to sell. Wonder why?

Assault with a trout ..... I certainly did !!!

Ok , require is a word that I accept . Maybe "make" was a bit strong but , make was not ment to mean force which it doesnt mean anyway .

If Porsche build an LMP1 car , you will see it in customer hands . You just have to look at all their race chassis over the years , they did . Except for the TWR LMP1 Porsche , which Joest did win at Le mans as a privateer too .
I feel that the LMP2 effort will be followed by an LMP1 effort , when , i dont know and maybe not before 2010 .

Less involvement ..... not sure , could go both ways , but if a major manufacturer is serious , i dont see an issue with that . We had 7 Nissans at Le Mans in 1990 ! And it doesnt matter when it was , it matters that they did .

So , why has Audi built 6 cars ..... to stick in a showroom or possibily to supply a customer team , which Champion is .

Sabre rattleing

Whats wrong with trout's anyway ?

[jhansen]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Less involvement ..... not sure , could go both ways , but if a major manufacturer is serious , i dont see an issue with that . We had 7 Nissans at Le Mans in 1990 ! And it doesnt matter when it was , it matters that they did .

So , why has Audi built 6 cars ..... to stick in a showroom or possibily to supply a customer team , which Champion is .

But this is not 1990. Audi won Le Mans this year with two cars and a clean sheet design. Corporate business is much more stream lined and efficient. So are manufacturer race teams. Bigger (more cars) is not better anymore.

Ok, so Audi has built six cars. Two run in the ALMS. Does Audi Sport NA (Champion) take a spare with them? I don't know. If they do, that's three in North America. One car is utilized for testing. One car got smashed up pretty good with McNish at the wheel (assume it's repaired, but don't know). That leaves two. They could race in the LMS. Or they could be utilized at Le Mans while two cars stay in North America. Or...? I really don't see that as a lot of cars.

[gwyllion]

It is official: Luhr and Rockfeller go to Audi.

source: http://www.endurance-info.com/article.php?sid=2958


The Dyson decision to switch to LMP2 has serious consequences. Will Audi do ALMS if they are alone in LMP1? Are they forced to do LMS?

It seems to me Audi has too many drivers and too little seats.

• DTM
  • 8 seats (4x 2007, 4x 2006 car)
  • 9 drivers: Kristensen, Ekstrom, Tomczyk, Luhr, Rockenfeller, Scheider (?), Abt (?), Kaffer (?), Stippler (?)
• LMS
  • 4 seats (?)
  • 5 drivers: Biela, Capello, Werner, Pirro, McNish
• ALMS
  • 0 seats because of Dyson switch to LMP2 (?)

[Fogelhund]

gwyllion the contract on many of those Audi drivers was complete at year end last year, and it is highly likely that they will compete in ALMS.

[gwyllion]

Audi has 3 entries for 24LM and thus needs 9 drivers. 8 of them are almost certain: Kristensen, Biela, Capello, Werner, Pirro, McNish, Luhr, Rockenfeller. My guess for the last driver would be Kaffer.

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

gwyllion the contract on many of those Audi drivers was complete at year end last year, and it is highly likely that they will compete in ALMS.

Against whom? Restricted Porsche RS Spyder, Autocon's old Lola, uncertain Creation, more uncertain Zytek, increasingly uncertain (unreliable) Courage-Cosworth.

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

Against whom? Restricted Porsche RS Spyder, Autocon's old Lola, uncertain Creation, more uncertain Zytek, increasingly uncertain (unreliable) Courage-Cosworth.

The question could have similarily been asked last year. Is racing against Dyson in Lola's a marketing coup gone away? I ask, how often did Dyson qualify ahead of, or finish ahead of Penske last year? Those Spyder's won't be any slower, despite the restrictions. Courage- Cosworth is dead.

This is about marketing, not a drive for competition.

Do these quotes from (dailysportscar) re; Audi seem like they are set to run LMS, and not ALMS to you?

Regarding the potential of racing R10s in Europe (other than Le Mans) and in the ALMS, Jüttner indicates that although he (and Reinhold Joest) would like to race against Peugeot in the Le Mans Series, he makes it clear that TV coverage of the series is inadequate the series isn’t well known among the public and it would be difficult to justify major expenditure to sponsor the series, even jointly with Peugeot.

Meanwhile, the ALMS offers “a very delightful stage for our presentation and strategic running” – and Herr Jüttner seems to like the yellow flag periods. He must have particularly enjoyed the timing of the yellow flags at Laguna Seca.

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

This is about marketing, not a drive for competition.

Do these quotes from (dailysportscar) re; Audi seem like they are set to run LMS, and not ALMS to you?

The Dyson announcement has changed a lot. There will be no competition in ALMS: no LMP1 cars (except Autocon and perhaps Creation) and LMP2s get smaller restrictors. I don't see IMSA drastically changing the performance ballance to make LMP1 and LMP2 equally fast, after ACO explicit decision to restrict LMP2 in 2007.

In LMS there will be many LMP1 competitors including Peugeot...

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

The Dyson announcement has changed a lot. There will be no competition in ALMS: no LMP1 cars (except Autocon and perhaps Creation) and LMP2s get smaller restrictors. I don't see IMSA drastically changing the performance ballance to make LMP1 and LMP2 equally fast, after ACO explicit decision to restrict LMP2 in 2007.

In LMS there will be many LMP1 competitors including Peugeot...

Please read Audi's comments as posted above. What Audi states themselves is directly contrary to your theory. Ask yourself, are Audi in this for the Marketing, or for some competition?

[old man]

Little marketing value in winning a one horse race

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by old man

Little marketing value in winning a one horse race

In reality, this has been a one horse race for years.

[KA]

Originally Posted by old man

Little marketing value in winning a one horse race

So long as your marketing says loudly enough 'we won' , not everyone is going to pay that much attention to who you actually beat to get there....

[JAG]

'Regarding the potential of racing R10s in Europe (other than Le Mans) and in the ALMS, Jüttner indicates that although he (and Reinhold Joest) would like to race against Peugeot in the Le Mans Series, he makes it clear that TV coverage of the series is inadequate the series isn’t well known among the public and it would be difficult to justify major expenditure to sponsor the series, even jointly with Peugeot.'

They are all well known problems from previous years, but series evolve, Peugeot entering changes the game.

An Audi demo run in the ALMS would be laughable.

[sh1989]

As for as DTM: There are the rumours of 2 2005 Audi for a private team. I think Vanina Ickx, who i believe has a contract for 07, is going to be driving one of those.

I am also thinking that one of the Audi endurance racers is going to be racing for Peugeot in 07.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

Audi has 3 entries for 24LM and thus needs 9 drivers. 8 of them are almost certain: Kristensen, Biela, Capello, Werner, Pirro, McNish, Luhr, Rockenfeller. My guess for the last driver would be Kaffer.

Wither JJ Lehto?

Originally Posted by sh1989

As for as DTM: There are the rumours of 2 2005 Audi for a private team. I think Vanina Ickx, who i believe has a contract for 07, is going to be driving one of those.

I am also thinking that one of the Audi endurance racers is going to be racing for Peugeot in 07.

Again wither JJ?

Surely he'll be well at the top of people's shopping lists if Audi don't retain him?

[gwyllion]

JJ Lehto does not have a contract with Audi. He never had.

[chernaudi]

True. He drove for Champion Racing when they had the ADT Security sponsorship. He was left out of the fold because he wasn't really part of the family so to speak( ie, offical factory driver). If Champion gets a semi factory privateer deal with the R10(or they may end up running the R8 for all I know-neither Audi or Champion Racing has said anything yet), then he may be back in the ALMS full time. He was also seen in the Champion/Audi Sport NA paddock at PLM, so who knows?

[vorsprung]

JJ will be gunning for Daytona 24 victory as the 3rd driver in Krohn Racing DP.
http://www.the-paddock.net/content/view/240946/49/

I'm still hoping that he will drive Champion R10 in ALMS.
And couple of weeks ago JJ said few words about Audi R8 road car in Finland's biggest motor show. Last year in the same show there was a video of him driving RS4.

[chernaudi]

At LMSR.net, Allan McNish wrote a letter to that site, and he says that he knows little more than we do about Audi's specifc plans for '07. Allan says that the delays about making major announcements is due to Martin Wintercorn becoming the head of Volkswagen Group AG, being promoted there from his similar job at Audi. So, Nishy says that we might hear somthing before Christmas, but maybe not.

[jhansen]

Jacques Villeneuve is being courted by Audi for DTM. So if that deal should come to pass then we could possibly see the Canadian in an R10. Lots of ifs though.

[Graham Goodwin]

Originally Posted by chernaudi

At LMSR.net, Allan McNish wrote a letter to that site, and he says that he knows little more than we do about Audi's specifc plans for '07. Allan says that the delays about making major announcements is due to Martin Wintercorn becoming the head of Volkswagen Group AG, being promoted there from his similar job at Audi. So, Nishy says that we might hear somthing before Christmas, but maybe not.

Just fyi - Nishy didn't write a letter to LMSR or indeed any other website - the letter is from his own site www.allanmcnish.com

[gwyllion]

As expected, Kristensen will most likely do DTM, Sebring and Le Mans.

source: http://tomkristensen.com/kristensens...29ecb97f77751a

I really wonder how Audi will employ all its drivers. It seems they have too many for the available number of seats.

• DTM
  • 8(-10) seats
  • confirmed: Kristensen, Ekstrom, Tomczyk, Luhr, Rockenfeller
  • candidates: Abt, Scheider, Westbrook/Bjork
• (A)LMS
  • 4-8 seats
  • candidates: McNish, Biela, Pirro, Capello, Werner, Stippler, Kaffer

[chernaudi]

For Audi Sport's ALMS team, the first four are the most likely to have full time seats, just like last year. Kristensen is pretty much a soo-in for the endurance races. However, they still need a third driver in the second car.

Werner has done the most testing, and ran the enduros in '06. Kaffer also did a lot of R10 testing. And there are still rumors of Luhr and Rocky getting an enduro ride of two. And there were rumors of Champion Racing being the only privateer to run a R10 at this time(possible, but not probable yet).

So who knows for sure? With Pug making their annoucement in a few days, Audi can't be too far off. Remember, it wasn't until after the Sebring test that Audi said that the R10 would do ALMS after LM, and announce their driver line ups.