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.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
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.