24 Hours of Le Mans: Audi the Tortoise, Porsche the Hare?
Relegated to almost three seconds behind the Porsche Hybrids yesterday in qualifying at Le Mans, the Audi teams were not overly concerned about the pace shown by their main competitors. Consistency over many laps matters far more in their eyes.
By dominating the qualifying rounds at Le Mans yesterday, has Porsche cast doubt in Audi’s minds? Victorious again last year in the Sarthe event, but relegated to the 4th, 5th, and 6th positions on the grid, the representatives of the brand with the rings did not seem to be panicking twenty-four hours before the start of the race.
Thus, Chris Reinke, head of LMP at Audi, emphasizes that at Le Mans, consistency is simply more crucial than a single lap.
The driver Marcel Fässler doesn’t have a much different opinion: « We never attempted a fast lap in any of the sessions. We could hardly have beaten the competition anyway. But on the other hand, our car is exceptional for long stints. Strategy will be crucial in the race. And the weather will also play a role. Our feeling is good ».
Audi won the first two events of the Endurance Championship season. As for Toyota, the 2014 champion but defeated at Le Mans, the priority is rather focused on reliability. Consequently, the Japanese cars are much less fast than the Porsches and Audis. However, Toyota is reportedly already concentrating on next year and could already count on an additional budget from the parent company in this regard.
For *Auto-Hebdo*, Toyota driver Sebastian Buemi assured that our race pace will be closer to our rivals than it was in qualifying. But it’s very hard to define the hierarchy because the Porsche 919 Hybrids have very different settings between qualifying and the race. Our strength lies in reliability, which is a weakness for Porsche. Audi also has issues, but they manage them well.
