First look: Audi eyes Le Mans with diesel R10

AUDI is on a roll. Just a month after the German giant confirmed its 2003 Le Mans quattro concept for production - to be known as the R8 supercar - Audi has revealed an all-new diesel-powered Le Mans 24-hour challenger.

Unveilled in Paris last week, the V12 TDI-engined racer will go by the name R10 and replaces Audi's super-successful R8 Le Mans prototype, which notched up 61 wins - including the 24-Hours Le Mans five times and the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) six times in succession.

The R10's 5.5-litre 485kW twin-turbo diesel, which produces a bullocking 1100Nm of torque, makes Audi the world's first car-maker to hunt for Le Mans victory with a diesel-powered racecar.

Eclipsing the performance of its R8 predecessor, the R10's all-new, all-aluminium V12 turbo-diesel represents a renewed focus on diesel technology for Audi, which is expected to filter down to its road cars.

"With the A8 4.2 TDI quattro, Audi already builds one of the most powerful diesel cars in the world," said Dr Martin Winterkorn, chairman of the board of management of AUDI AG at the R10 presentation in Paris.

"The Le Mans project will help our technicians to extract even more from TDI technology. Nowadays, every second Audi is delivered with a TDI engine. We expect that the percentage of diesel engines will be even larger in the future."Featuring two diesel particulate filters, common-rail fuel induction and injection pressure exceeding 1600 bar, the 90-degree 48-valve DOHC V12 offers peak power between just 3000 and 5000rpm, while its 1100Nm torque peak required a chassis rethink for the R10, whose carbon-fibre monococque frame employs a much longer wheelbase than its R8 forebear's.

"This engine is the specifically most powerful diesel there is in the world and, up until now, the biggest challenge that Audi Sport has ever faced in its long history," said Ulrich Baretzky, head of engine technology at Audi Sport. "There has never been anything remotely comparable. We started development with a clean sheet of paper."R10 successfully completed its first test at the end of November and will take on the 12-hour race at Sebring (USA) on March 18, before heading to Le Mans for the 24-hour on June 17-18.

"The R10 project is the biggest challenge ever to have been handed to Audi Sport," said head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. "TDI technology has not been pushed to its limits in motorsport yet. We are the first to confront the challenge. The demands of such a project are accordingly high.

"Long-term technology partners such as Bosch, Michelin or Shell support us in our quest. Together we have the chance to write new chapters in the history books of motorsport and diesel technology."Meantime, Audi's R8 roadcar (pictured above), based on the Le Mans quattro concept revealed at the 2003 Frankfurt motor show, will enter production in the first half of 2007 and may become available in Australia later that year.

The mid-engined sports car is expected to employ a derivative of the 5.0-litre V10 that powers the Gallardo from Audi-owned Lamborghini. The first Audi to employ the V10 - in 336kW/540Nm 5.2-litre guise - is the new S8 sedan reveald at Frankfurt in October.

The R8 supercar may also ditch the S8's six-speed auto for a Audi's Direct Shift Gearbox with paddleshift mode, while the sub-1500kg aluminium-chassis coupe should also employ Gallardo's VTS all-wheel drive system. Expect similar performance to Gallardo and Ferrari's F430 - and a $300,000-plus pricetag.