[Auto] Audi Sport e-tron on track: five electric beasts and four motorsport legends to tame them

[FNX Magokiler]

Let's do some history
It was eleven years ago when Audi celebrated its first victory with a hybrid drive at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the R18 e-tron quattro, in addition to titles in the FIA WEC World Endurance Championship. “After the brand demonstrated its pioneering spirit with the Audi quattro in rallies in the 1980s, Le Mans later became a first-class technological laboratory,” says Audi Motorsport Director Rolf Michl. “There began the story of our alternative propulsion systems, which continue to set new milestones to this day."

Audi won Le Mans three times in a row with the R18 e-tron quattro hybrid prototype between 2012 and 2014. In total, the brand with the four rings entered its name in the record of the world's most important endurance race in 13 occasions.

“The R18 was a clearly driver-oriented car, very aggressive. You always got a good response up to the limit. “It was the most complex car I have ever driven in my life,” recalls Tom Kristensen and in the “e-tron on track” the LMP1 prototype came to life.

 

 

Tom Kristensen - 9-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans - explained the operation of the R18 e-tron quattro to the most successful driver of the Dakar, Stéphane Peterhansel. “For me, as a Frenchman, a race as rich in history as the 24 Hours of Le Mans is something very special. Formula 1, Le Mans and the Dakar are monuments of motorsport. That's why it was clear that today I would choose the R18,” declared the 14-time Dakar Rally winner.

Driving it in Neuburg was an awakening for the 58-year-old desert expert: “An amazing car. Everything is incredibly direct and precise. Of course I'm not familiar with circuit racing, but it was enormously fun. And the concept proves that the electric drive is worth it: you can clearly feel how the hybrid drive provides an additional boost to the car.”

His teammate Carlos Sainz, two-time world rally champion and three-time Dakar winner, took the wheel of the most powerful car of the quintet.

The brand developed the Audi e-tron Vision Gran Turismo five years ago as a race taxi for guests in the FIA Formula E Championship. “More than 800 HP and purely electric propulsion. “It was incredible,” the 60-year-old Spaniard marveled. “A great car that also looks fantastic. “Once you have had the opportunity to try such a powerful electric car, you only want to drive engines like that.”

 

https://noticias.autocosmos.cl/2023/11/02/audi-sport-e-tron-on-track-cinco-bestias-electricas-y-cuatro-leyendas-del-motorsport-para-domarlas