Posted on 06/17/2012 7:51:08 PM PDT by Route797
The 24 Hours of Le Mans has always been a laboratory for wild automotive technologypart sporting event, part science fiction. On Sunday, at the 80th running of the world's most famous endurance race, a hybrid racing car won for the first time.
Audi's 200-mph R18 e-tron quattro took the checkered flag in front of 240,000 fans, in the hands of German driver André Lotterer. The winning hybrid, nicknamed "Electra" by the Audi team, traveled 3,201.18 miles over the 24 hoursthe rough equivalent of Miami to Seattle.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
That accident with the Toyota and Audi was amazing. Still can’t believe the drivers survived.
Audi did a good job with an electric car.
It was a Ferrari, not and Audi...rare for drivers to die these days unless something hits them (tire) in the cockpit or they hit a fence/rail top side up....
too bad Peugeot puled out of LeMans and endurance racing...its almost akin to the New England Patriots pulling out of the NFL....
Oh, I thought the Ferrari bumped the Toyota and it flew over the Audi before they hit the wall.
Yea, I watched a lot.
Maybe Peugeot will be there next year.
Americans are proud that when Ford made the effort, they won LeMans ONCE.
Audi has won 11 of the last 13, with gasoline, diesel and diesel hybrid. This year the 4 Audis that started, finished 1, 2, 3, 5.
I believe Ford won Le Mans four times, not ONCE. Three with the GT-40 and once with the Mk IV.
I swear the other teams deliberately bumped the Nissan Deltawing off the course.
And the poor Corvette team suffered from crew errors and a constant failure of components.
Hats off to the Audi crew who can and did have a nearly destroyed car back on the course in just minutes.
E-track and diesels, who knows maybe Nascar will by law from an Obama Executive decision be forced to allow diversity in its teams.
Ford won from 66-69, four years.
Ford also had limitless pockets since Henry II was PO’d when Enzo gave Ford the brush of when Henry II wanted to buy Ferrari.
Fantastic. I wonder what kind of mileage it got.
Cool...!
Just run a few conductors down the track at Daytona and ...
Seriously, if you can get a Prius or Volt going 200 mph with an endurance of 3200 miles I'll buy one.
My mistake. Should have looked it up.
Was in a hurry to cheer for Audi winning 11 of the last 13 times.
Would love to see another successful American effort in LP1.
I would cheer for that, too.
Slot Cars? Used to race them on a cold winter day when all others forms of entertainment were’nt available.
“Seriously, if you can get a Prius or Volt going 200 mph with an endurance of 3200 miles I’ll buy one.”
They are using hybrid energy recovery in F1, and as you see in LeMans cars.
Not the same as Prius or Volt. Toyota made a good debut with their hybrid, showing their commitment to hybrid.
GM is unlikely to be up to sponsoring international-leading edge technology racing, in my view.
Corvette is a top competitor in a lower class, however. I believe it is a private entry, not factory.
Obviously VW/Audi, Porsche, Toyota, etc. see value to support their image and reputation with racing in endurance races.
Mercedes, Renault, Lotus and others in F1. Mercedes, BMW, Audi in DTM.
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