Wolfgang Ullrich | carreviewssonline

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2 August

Audi

Audi, one of the most sought-after teams at the American Le Mans Series, is in the middle of a scorching competition. The ALMS heavyweight is consistently showing the power and performance it is capable of releasing.

The German Audi has been bombarded with several strategies to make it submit to teams from lower weight class. A season after it crossed the finish line first at all 10 ALMS events, Audi - which competes out of the 2,040-pound, 700 horsepower Le Mans P1 prototype division – has not won a race since March 31. Porsche-backed Penske Racing, an LMP2 competitor that comes in 300 pounds lighter and produces 550-hp, enters this weekend's Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on an eight-race winning streak, USA Today reported.

"Even before the season, we knew it was going to be hard to beat an LMP2 at some tracks," said Wolfgang Ullrich, the head of Audi Motorsport. "Weight is a big issue. At some tracks it's just not possible to be as competitive the way the rulebook is written."

To note, ALMS added three temporary street courses – St. Petersburg, Fla.; Long Beach, Calif.; and Detroit. The mentioned courses made it difficult for drivers to do braking and quick acceleration.

What is more, Automobile Club de l'Ouest, the international governing body ALMS patterns its rules after, slashed the size of the LMP1 fuel cell by 2.4 gallons, forcing the German team to take one more pit stop than LMP2 cars at many tracks.

"I think they made all these changes to the LMP1 car, maybe it's time they do something with the LMP2," said Dindo Capello, an Audi driver. "Increase their weight configuration. They have an advantage at the ALMS tracks with the exception of Sebring, MoSport, Road America and Atlanta. At the rest, we are in a bad situation."

Audi again dominated June's 24 Hours of Le Mans, the most popular endurance race around the globe. Frank Biela, Marco Werner and Emanuele Pirro led the team to its fourth consecutive victory on the 8.45-mile French circuit and second consecutive win with company’s revolutionary diesel-powered R10 that complemented Audi rotors and brake disc.

But the two-car team has not been nearly as prolific stateside, even on permanent road courses where the Audi is supposed epitomize dominance. The reasons behind Audi's predicament have included improved strategy by Penske (Miller Motorsports Park, May 19), quicker pit stops by Penske (Road America, Aug. 11) and a broken gearbox with three minutes left in the event (Mosport, Aug. 26). As much as the rule changes have injured Audi, Penske returned after its first full season in ALMS with revamped cars.

Team owner Roger Penske said the current Porsche RS Spyder is about "10 percent better" than last season's rendition. Ryan Briscoe, Penske driver, has this to say: "Porsche has done a great job at developing these cars. We came back with a car that's a lot quicker with more downforce, which make cornering speeds a lot faster. The cars have also been extremely reliable, even though we were a bit shaky at Sebring."

"They just gave them the biggest advantage I have ever seen," Penske noted. "The rules are the rules.… They made a set of rules at the beginning of the season, so I think they should live with those rules. I know about all the ramifications at the top, but I can tell you it's a wide-open rivalry when it comes to racing.”

“Ideally, we'd like to have every championship race go down to the wire," ALMS President and CEO Scott Atherton noted. "Petit Le Mans has turned into something special.”