‘Less is more’ seemed to be the watchword for the 2011 regulations, less weight, less power, less fuel and the Ingolstadt number crunchers came up with the factory’s first closed coupe LMP since the R8C of 1999, unveiled in Germany in December 2010.
The other major visual changes from the R18 TDI’s predecessors were the now mandatory (and huge) dorsal fin and taller, wider front tyres.
Under the skin there was a new electrically controlled six speed gearbox but the most radical change from the R15 was the engine, a new single turbo 3.7 litre V6 diesel (claimed to produce c.530 bhp), well down on the older car but far more frugal in fuel consumption.
The task for the new car was to take on the Factory (and Oreca) Peugeots in the ILMC and, after missing Sebring, where a pair of
R15s raced, the new car found the going very tough, again it was a single win in the season, but again it was the Le Mans 24 Hours that brought that win, and that despite two horrendous accidents which befell Allan McNish and Mike Rockenfeller in the team cars, Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler took the win, against the odds and under massive pressure from the Peugeots.
2012 saw not one but two new versions of the car, dubbed the R18 Ultra R18 e-tron Quattro, both employing and promoting Audi’s ultra lightweight technology, again power was reeled in, and fuel capacity came down again too (to 60 litres) but some clever trimming of weight gave the race engineers more to play with.
The ultra (above) was a pure diesel version of the car, ballasted up to race at an identical weight to the hybrid powered e-tron Quattro which uses a WIlliams Hybrid Power designed flywheel accumulator capable of delivering 500 kilojoules to the front wheels via an electric motor, thereby giving the car four wheel drive. As such the system’s punch is only available above 120 km/h.
Both new cars debuted at Spa after a last successful hurrah for the original TDI at Sebring. In Belgium the ultra triumphed as the factory fielded two of each of their new babies, the brand new FIA World Endurance Championship having taken a body blow with the late, late withdrawal of the Peugeot factory team.
Next time out though, at Le Mans, Toyota debuted their brand new TS030 and the car was much, much more competitive over the first six hours of the race than expected, Audi prevailed, with the e-tron Quattro taking the first ever win at the great race from a hybrid powered car, but the storm was gathering and Audi were considering a change in strategy.
Silverstone saw Toyota run the Audis very close indeed, a conservative strategy probably cost the TS030 a first win.
The response from Audi came after a first win for the Toyota in Brazil, the plan to campaign one each of the new R18s in every WEC round put aside with two e-tron Quattros fielded from Bahrain onwards.
Clever use of the rulebook from Toyota had put Audi on the back foot and it was only in Bahrain,where the fast but not readily race serviceable Toyota stumbled.
The World Championship though was Audi’s, though the race losses had prodded the sleeping lion, Audi’s technical team got to work in the close season and their response took the breath away of the Cologne collective.
In fact the response, and the performance could have been even more dramatic with the factory successfully testing an exhaust gas compression system that gave even further boost before the rulemakers decided that wasn’t permissible.
The 2013 e-tron Quattro appeared with Audi’s interpretation of the clever, rule avoiding Toyota rear end, with a super secret exhaust ducting that aided downforce too and with much more power, the team having done their sums and opted for a trade off between power and fuel consumption that was successful enough to have Toyota call “foul” on the balance between petrol and diesel fuelled power/ fuel allowance.
The 2013 spec Toyota, introduced from Spa onwards closed the gap but the Audis prevailed and secured the 100th victory for an Audi LMP at round 5 of the World Endurance Championship at Austin (below), The USA seeing the first, and the hundredth win in the sequence, and Fuji offering the potential for the factory team securing a second consecutive World Championship with a 101st win.
Overall Stats – Audi R18 Family
Races Contested 20 (up to and including COTA 2013)
Races Won 12 (9 x etron quattro, 2 x TDI, 1 x Ultra)
Pole Positions 12
Championships/ Major race wins 3 x Le Mans (1 x TDI, 2 x e-tron quattro) 2 x Sebring, 1 x FIA WEC
Fastest Race Laps 12
