Technical Director, Ralf Juttner, of Audi Sport Team Joest gives us some insight on this weekends Le Mans test day. The Audi R18 TDI will make its first official appearance and we should see the new livery. It will also mark the first time Audi and Peugeot will be able to measure up each other.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans test day returns. Next Sunday the R18 TDI rolls around the track for the first time. How do you assess this test day in your function as Technical Director of Audi Sport Team Joest?
The test day was dropped for two years due to economical reasons. I’m delighted that this event has returned to the calendar. It helps to save the teams some unpleasant surprises otherwise encountered during the race in June. The new test day has, however, another meaning: This event was held for years only two weeks before the actual race. In this period it wasn’t possible to change much. Now there is more time to react.
Next Sunday it is not all about lap time. What benefit do Audi and its team actually get from this day?
We’ll be able to get through a lot of valuable work there. The track is unique and the circuit cannot be used permanently. Every kilometer is worth its weight in gold. According to the regulations we only have to appear at the test with one car. However, we will test all three R18 TDI cars. We’ll complete a different program with each of the cars in order to learn as much as possible about the aerodynamics, tires, set-up and other subjects.
It’s impossible to prevent lap times being compared…
Correct. But it must never be forgotten that only the teams actually know what they are testing. It may well be the first comparison, but we’ll only see the real performance in June.
- Audi Motorsport
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