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Home » Blog » Allan's Blog » PETIT RACE IS CONFIRMED . . . SEARS POINT RE-VISITED . . .
27 August 2009 | Posted in Allan's Blog
"I'm very pleased to announce Audi and myself will be returning to the Petit Le Mans race next month. Dindo [Capello] and I will be in one R15 TDI with Lucas [Luhr] and Marco [Werner] in a ‘sister' Audi Sport Team Joest machine to take on the might of Peugeot, Acura, Oreca and the others who are heading over to Georgia for this classic event.
Petit Le Mans wasn't on our calendar which had been restricted to Sebring and Le Mans this year. However, Audi Sport has been very strong in us continuing our race programme and indeed increasing it for this year.
We'll be looking to defend our Petit ‘crown' while at the same time looking towards the development of the Audi R15 TDI for Le Mans next year. It's clear that the competition has moved on a lot from Sebring. Acura has been developing its concept of their LM P1 sports-prototype so that car will be significantly more competitive than what we saw at Sebring in March. We can see by their race pace in recent ALMS races that it'll be a battle with them. Reliability could be a factor but I don't recall them breaking down in an ALMS race so that element is also impressive.
Peugeot will definitely be looking to redeem themselves after our very narrow victory at Road Atlanta last year. But we also want revenge. We're looking to redeem ourselves after our Le Mans podium. Third place was a fantastic result to achieve with our new R15 TDI, following our win at Sebring, but we always want more and on this occasion in France, we weren't in a position to do anything about it.
The Petit race will be great motivation for Audi Sport and Team Joest concerning the development of the R15 TDI. From a driver's viewpoint, we can dust off the cobwebs from the last couple of months of inactivity. But it also gives everyone a reminder that we are a racing team and that is what we do best. I'm really excited and pretty pumped up already about getting stuck in to the event.
After the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the PR trip to Japan and getting the Segrave Trophy in London which I spoke about in the my last newsletter to you, I went to Ingolstadt for Audi's 100 year Centenary celebrations. It was a massive event, lots of parties with major dignitaries attending including the German Prime Minister, Angela Merkel - voted by Forbes Magazine as the most influential woman in the world. She stood up and announced that her ‘private' car is an Audi - that was pretty cool. Not surprisingly Audi rolled out some very impressive past and present machinery.
But I'm now in California for Audi North America for the US launch of the Audi R8 V10. I'm at the Infineon Raceway and am looking forward to having another blast in the R8 - it's a stunning sportscar. It'll also give me the opportunity to look around the Jim Russell Racing Drivers' School facility here in Sonoma which I'm also involved with. The Infineon Raceway, or Sears Point as it was known, was the venue I scored my first win for Audi. Back in 2000. Driving an Audi R8.
All of these trips, functions, events have kept me very busy in July and August. But I'm really, really looking forward to getting back here to the States next month . . . as I think you can tell!
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Looking forward to seeing you and Audi on the track again. ALMS hasn't been the same this year without you guys.