Audi R15 TDI to Make Racing Debut at Le Castellet

In preparation for the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans, Audi's Sport division will test the R15 TDI at the 8-hour race at Le Castellet in southern France on April 11. As Audi says, the car will only attend the event for testing purposes and will not aim at anything more.

“We’re on schedule with the additional developments we’re making on the R15 TDI and so this race should be possible,” Wolfgang Ullrich, Audi Motorsport head said.

“Le Castellet is a race track that lends itself pretty well to testing for Le Mans, and we’ve frequently used this circuit for our Le Mans preparation. The 8-hour race distance makes the race of further interest to us.”

The news comes after the car was initially scheduled for its first test during the 1,000-kilometer race at Spa-Francorchamps, but the carmaker decided to go for the season opener of the 2010 Le Mans Series at Le Castellet.

In all, Audi will enter three events in the Le Mans series, the two mentioned above and the 1000-kilometer race at Silverstone (Great Britain) on September 12, a race which kicks off the Le Mans Intercontinental Cup. Here, Audi will field two R15 TDI cars.

“This should not at all be interpreted to mean that we will be contesting all five LMS races,” said Ullrich. “At the moment, we are only planning to race at Le Castellet, Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone.”

The drivers which Audi will use during the events are Swiss Marcel Fassler (33), German Andre Lotterer (28) and Frenchman Benoit Treluyer (33).