Audi LMP1 cars technical and cutaway drawings by PAN_NULLO

By Johan Laubscher

There are many technical based websites focusing on sports car racing. One such website is Antonio Pannullo’s blog, also known as PAN_NULLO. 

 PAN_NULLO Le Mans Prototypes Blog link

He is an extremely talented individual who produces these drawings and also has a great technical understanding for these types of race cars. His blog is filled with updated articles showing all the latest news in sports car racing regarding the cars. He makes brilliant side by side drawings of the different versions of the cars as they are developed, showing all the small detail changes during their development. He documents the evolution of LMP car designs. 

These cutaway drawings are just a small taste of what his blog has in store:

Audi R10 TDI cutaway drawing

Audi R15 TDI plus cutaway drawing

Audi R18 TDI cutaway drawing

Here are a few links to Audi related articles on his blog:

Link: Audi R18 e-tron quattro vs Audi R18 ultra

Link: 2012 Sebring Hybrid Testing

Link: Audi R10 TDI

Link: Audi R15 TDI

Link: Audi R15 TDI plus 

If you scroll through his blog you will find much more fascinating and detailed Audi content along with equally brilliant content and information about the other LMP cars and manufacturers. Antonio Pannullo’s blog really does make for a great read. 

First glimpse of the full 2012 spec Audi R18 e-tron and ultra

By Johan Laubscher

The first photos of the full 2012 specification Audi R18 race car models have surfaced on the internet. The new R18 e-tron quattro and the R18 ultra. A week ahead of the debut of the two new cars and fans are now able to see them in detail. There are clear visual changes to the cars. Most notably the new front headlights, various aerodynamic and small layout changes. The cars will debut next weekend at Spa, round two of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The cars look awesome and we cannot wait to see them at Spa and then onwards to Le Mans.

The photo are by the official Audi Sport press

More Information:

The official Audi Sport Facebook page

"24 Hours of Audi" : Shakedown great coverage to Audi tests at Sebring

By Tarek Ramchani

Audi won the 60th 12 Hours of Sebring, a great 1-2 victory with the "old" Audi R18 TDI. Right after the endurance classic, Audi Sport Team Joest spent some times testing their new weapons. The Audi R18 e-tron quattro and the Audi R18 ultra. New LMP1 challengers for both Le Mans 24 Hours and the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Shakedown was there too, and they did a great coverage for these private Audi tests. including interviews with Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich head of Audi Motorsport. Allan McNish the 2012 Sebring 12 hour overall winner and Ulrich Baretsky  head of engine development at Audi Sport. A brilliant report worth to watch, waiting the two cars debut at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, round 2 of WEC.

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich talks to AudiWorld.com about Audi new R18 e-tron quattro an R18 Ultra

AudiWorld.com interviewd Dr. Worlfgang Ullrich at Sebring. The head of Audi Motorsport talking about new technologies and the brand new challengers for Le Mans and FIA World Endurance Championship, the Audi R18 e-tron quattro and the Audi R18 ultra. Have a look.

The Audi R18 e-tron quattro Launch Trailer - One of the greatest videos

By Johan Laubscher

Audi Sport have always been known for producing some exceptional video material. Today, Monday the  third of March 2012 was no exception. The latest promotional video from Audi Sport was published today, and oh what a video.

Focusing on the return of quattro to the race tracks this video entitled “Audi R18 e-tron quattro Launch Trailer” encompasses just over two minutes of Audi and more specifically “quattro’s” motorsport heritage. The combination of brilliant video clip choices combined with supreme editing and music results in a video that will get any petrol head’s heart pumping. Hearing the breathtaking sound of the legendary five cylinder turbo rally cars and the dominant Le Mans prototypes is enough to send shivers down your spine. For Audi fans this is a jaw dropping, knock me over video and one that makes the wait until June seem even longer. If this video does not get your blood pumping, then there is an empty cavity where your heart should be.

Watch the trailer here:

*Cover photo is a still taken from the video

Audi R18 e-tron quattro full set of official videos

All the official videos of the brand new Audi R18 e-tron quattro for Le Mans 24 Hours and the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Audi with two R18 e-tron quattro and two R18 ultra at Le Mans

 
By Tarek Ramchani

Audi Sport will field four cars at the 80th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours. Four cars utilising two different technologies and twelve drivers. This is only the second time since 1999 that Audi will compete at Le Mans with four full factory cars.

The big news for the Audi Le Mans sportscar program is the brand new Audi R18 e-tron quattro. The Hybrid powered closed cockpit prototype is based on the 2011 Le Mans winning R18. This marks the comeback of the legendary "quattro" in factory racing at Audi. Quattro AWD has a strong winning legacy in motorsport: World Rally Chamionship (Group , the IMSA GTO series, the SCCA Trans-Am, the DTM and Super Touring racing. Two R18 e-tron quattro cars will be fielded at Le Mans and only one will do the full FIA World Endurance Championship. All six drivers of the two new cars are familiar faces. For Le Mans the driver line-up will be:

#1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro: Marcel Fässler (CH), André Lotterer (D) and Benoît Tréluyer (F)

# 2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro: Dindo Capello (I), Tom Kristensen (DK) and Allan McNish (GB)

In support of the two R18 e-tron quattro cars, Audi will field two TDI powered prototypes. The Audi R18 ultra is the new name of the 2011 winning car, the R18 TDI. After Le Mans a single R18 ultra will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The R18 ultra will have three new drivers at Audi for Le Mans. Loic Duval from France raced with the privateer ORECA team the last two years, very fast with the Peugeot 908 HDI FAP. Marco Bonanomi from Italy, factory test driver since last year and Italian GT champion with Audi Sport Italia. Oliver Jarvis from Britain who raced at Le Mans 2010 in a customer R10 TDI (Team Kolles) and raced in the German DTM series since 2008. The other three drivers are the 2010 overall winners. The R18 ultra driver line-ups at La Sarthe will be:

#3 Audi R18 ultra : Timo Bernhard (D), Romain Dumas (F)and Loïc Duval (F)
#4 Audi R18 ultra : Marco Bonanomi (I), Oliver Jarvis (GB) and Mike Rockenfeller (D)

The 12 Hours of Sebring is the season opener for the brand new FIA World Endurance Championship. Audi Sport will enter three R18 ultra cars. The Audi R18 e-tron quattro will make its race debut at round 2, the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, where Toyota Racing is set to debut its TS030 Hybrid as well.

Quattro is back in world class racing. Two different technologies and four cars in hands of team Joest Racing. Twelve strong drivers who are among the bests in sports car racing. Audi is without any doubts the big favourite for Le Mans and the new FIA World Endurance Championship.

Audi R18 e-tron quattro : Audi brings the quattro back to the race track

Ingolstadt/Munich, 2012-02-29

• World premiere in Munich: the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro
• Four-wheel driven diesel hybrid for the 24 Hours of Le Mans
• Audi ultra lightweight as base for the application of hybrid technology

Motor sport is used yet again by AUDI AG to pioneer new technology: the brand with the four ring’s new Le Mans race car is the world’s first LMP1 car to combine a highly-efficient TDI with a hybrid system. quattro drive also celebrates its comeback to the race track with the prototype – in a entirely new form.


Audi R18 e-tron quattro is the name of the new Le Mans prototype that makes its race debut on May 5 in the 6-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) and fights for overall victory at the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans (France) on June 16/17. Audi unites two technologies in a fascinating way to create a new type of drive, which is also already being tested for future use in production cars: e-tron quattro.

Hiding behind this description is the next generation four-wheel drive with which Audi combines the advantages of the proven quattro drive with the potential of electromobility. To this end one vehicle axle is powered conventionally, the second by electric motors.


“Audi has always consciously selected championships and categories in racing that have a close relationship to production and therefore have technical relevance for the Audi customers,” explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, who personally drove the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro onto the stage on Wednesday evening during its world premiere in the Audi Training Center at Munich airport – electrically and almost silent. “quattro, TFSI and TDI are three excellent examples of how motorsport has stimulated production development. A similar tendency is apparent with the e-tron quattro: we test a completely new technology on the race track before it’s introduced to the Audi production line.”


On the Audi R18 e-tron quattro kinetic energy is recovered on the front axle during the braking phase. It is fed as electric into a flywheel accumulator before being retrieved under acceleration again above a speed of 120 km/h. During this procedure only the front axle is integrated. The V6 TDI power plant producing 375 kW (510 hp) continues to transmit its power to the rear wheels. Both systems complement each other to create the new drive principle e-tron quattro.

Project began in February 2010

The project e-tron quattro for motorsport started in February 2010. Only 18 months passed from the initial conceptual ideas to the first test. “This is a relatively short cycle for a technology that has never been tested in motorsport and which still doesn’t even exist in production,” stresses Dr. Martin Mühlmeier, Head of Technology at Audi Sport. “The challenge is correspondingly big.”

Audi Sport developed the Audi R18 ultra in parallel to the Audi R18 e-tron quattro – because Audi takes a two-pronged approach this year in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and in the newly created FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) – the 2012 model year Audi R18 is built with and without hybrid drive. The trick: the base of both cars is completely identical, which is why the additional logistical effort is kept limited for Audi Sport and the race team.

“The TDI engine invented by Audi is still the most efficient drive in the world,” says Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “We are convinced that the TDI has even more potential. This is why Audi not only supports the hybrid in motorsport as it does in production, but in parallel also the further development of the conventional drive.”

Innovation in transmission area

The R18 e-tron quattro’s twin brother more than lives up to its model name ‘R18 ultra’: it is the lightest Le Mans prototype that Audi Sport has ever built. To compensate for the additional weight of the hybrid system the subject of lightweight design and construction was the focus throughout development of the 2011 Le Mans race winning R18 TDI. In addition to the many detail optimizations there is also a genuine innovation in the transmission area: a new gearbox with a carbon-fiber composite housing was developed for the R18 – a premiere for endurance racing.

“The new R18 ultra is a distinct evolution of last year’s Le Mans race winning car,” summarizes Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Our drivers’ impressions were very positive from the first moment. Without the weight optimized R18 ultra we would have not been capable of realizing the R18 e-tron quattro which is absolutely identical with the exception of the hybrid system.”

Audi Press Release