- Tests at Sebring (Florida, USA)
- Six Le Mans winners at the wheel
- Early preparation for 2012 season
Audi Sport is preparing for the 2012 sports prototype season. A test team has started the next trial phase of next year’s LMP1 sports car in the United States.
After previous tests of the next development of the 2011 Le Mans-winning car took place behind closed doors, Audi is now going into public at a race track for the first time. Since last Saturday, Audi Sport has been running tests with two vehicles at the Sebring (Florida) circuit. The second LMP1 sports car serves to compare the test results. Taking turns at the wheel of the two development vehicles are the 2011 Le Mans winners: the Swiss Marcel Fässler, the German André Lotterer and the Frenchman Benoît Tréluyer. Also involved in the tests are Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish, who were last victorious at Le Mans in 2008.
The traditional American circuit has a special significance for Audi, not only because Audi has celebrated nine victories at the Sebring 12 Hours since the 2000 season. The 5.95-kilometre track features 17 highly different types of corners, offering plenty of variety, which makes for excellent test conditions. The rough concrete of the former airfield’s take-off and landing strip, in combination with the tarmac of the other track sectors creates particularly demanding test. On March 17, the 12-Hour race will open the new FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) as well as the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) at this venue.
While the component tests have already started, Audi will not announce the details of the 2012 racing program, the driver line-up and the technical state of the development until a later date.