After losing to sister brand Porsche, Audi Sport says it has re-designed the R18 for the 2016 season. The LMP1 race car that competes in the Le Mans 24 Hours and in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) now has improved aerodynamics, what said to be the next stage in lightweight design a modified hybrid system with lithium-ion batteries for energy storage, plus an efficiency-optimized TDI engine.
During the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) that starts at Silverstone (Great Britain) on April 17, Team Joest will run two new Audi R18 cars. At the financially challenged VW Group, Audi and Porsche will each compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours, the WEC season’s most famous event, with only two instead of three cars.
The organizers of the Le Mans 24 Hours, the ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest), today confirmed that all four Ford GTs have received a place on the entry list for the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours.
From a historical perspective, the WEC picks up the tradition of the sports car world championship from the 1960s to the 1980s. After Formula One, the WEC is arguably the world’s most important racing series on track.
In 2016 it has nine rounds held in nine different countries. The season’s highlight is the Le Mans 24-hour race in France, where Porsche holds a record of 17 overall victories.
The other eight races are six hours long. The begins in Silverstone (UK, April 17) and Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium, May 7). After Le Mans (June 18/19) the German round of the championship is at the Nürburgring (July 24). New to the calendar is the race in Mexico City (September 3), followed by Austin (Texas, U.S., September 17), Fuji (Japan, October 16), Shanghai (China, November 6) and the finale in Bahrain on November 19.