Hi everyone.
This blog post is about what I consider the forgotten Audi Le Mans car. It tends to get overlooked because it wasn't as successful or long lived as other Audi LMPs. However, it set two distance/speed records that will probably not be broken for a long time, and set the tone for its more successful successors.
The Audi R15 was created as the successor to the R10 and to provide a continued answer to the Peugeot 908. While the R10 had the 908 beaten on speed and reliability at their first meeting at Le Mans in 2007, the newer 908 had more development potential, which showed in early 2008. Audi won Le Mans thanks to better tactics, reliability and adaptability, and they closed the gap in performance during the season. But the R10 was a relative dead end as far as development.
The R15 was hoped to be more agile and easier to drive than either the R10 or 908. And though the car showed potential in testing, between rain and accidents in testing, the R15's test regimen wasn't as successful as hoped, and ended up showing up to Le Mans with teething problems that didn't even show up at the car's successful debut at the 2009 12 Hours of Sebring. In so winning at Sebring, the R15 set the all time distance record for a victor at the Sebring 12 Hours, a record that still stands and will likely stand for a while yet.
Le Mans, though, was a relative disaster by Audi Sport standards. One car finished well back due to mechanical problems, one crashed out, and the other finished 3rd after battling overheating issues and a lack of top speed during the event.
Hence, it can be argued that the R15 didn't live up to its hopes. The R10 struggled with top speed vs the 908 in 2008 at most circuits. This didn't hurt the R10 much as it won at tracks like Silverstone and Road Atlanta for the Petit Le Mans, where its handling advantage over the 908 worked in its favor. But at Le Mans, with 5 zones were the fastest cars can easily hit speeds of over 200mph, the speed deficit showed. Only by being better in rainy conditions, better strategy and tactics, and better durability did Audi conquer Peugeot at Le Mans in 2008.
At Petit Le Mans at Road America--a track that suited the early incarnation of the R15 just as well as the R10--Audi dominated in both wet and dry conditions, only for late race spins to cost them a likely win when the race was stopped due to a flooded track.
Keeping in mind the Le Mans performance deficit to Peugeot and other minor problems that held them back, Audi Sport redeveloped the R15 for 2010, keeping only the chassis, basic suspension, and the 5.5 liter V10 TDI engine and 5 speed gearbox. Every body panel on the car was otherwise changed.
That re-engineering did close the gap to Peugeot, but not completely, at Le Mans. However, the pace was hard and record setting during the race. And the effects showed with the Peugeots suffering terminal problems, leaving the slightly slower, but more consistent, and more durable Audi R15s to take a 1-2-3 finish at Le Mans. And like at Sebring a year in a half earlier, set an all-time distance and average speed record that's unlikely to fall anytime soon.
Performance against Peugeot was on par for the rest of the Audi vs Peugeot encounters, though further victories eluded Audi until the R18--which was developed based on feedback and developments from the R15--entered use. And thus, started a new generation of Audi Le Mans Prototype cars that featured smaller engines, enclosed cockpits, and, ultimately, hybrid systems.
Video of the early R15 in late 2008 being tested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo4W2Ycejr8&t=31s
Audi Sport promo video released before the 2009 12 Hours of Sebring:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMZE6xEc-lM
And now the 2010 version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CELNVjHCk6A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxNVmMycSdU
And now some articles and galleries, first 2009
https://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/4044/Audi-R15-TDI.html
2010:
https://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/4480/Audi-R15-plus-TDI.html
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