Audi at the 2011 MMER

Audi just misses out on the top spot at the Sepang 12-hour race after leading going into the final stages of the race.

OneShift Editorial Team

02 Oct 2011

In extremely tough conditions at the 12- hour Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race at Sepang held last month, the Audi R8 LMS proved its endurance racing qualities yet again. Technically, the production-derived customer sport race car was running with absolute perfection. After the Bathurst 12 Hours, the Spa 24 Hours and Zolder 24 Hours, the Audi R8 LMS practically had its fourth endurance race victory this year within reach. However, a tyre failure hindered the victory of Team WRT (Belgian Audi Club) by a very narrow margin.

In the heat of the night: At peak temperatures of 35 degrees centigrade technical problems in the field were the norm, but not so for the Audi R8 LMS. However, the vehicle designated as car number 1 was lacking the necessary racing luck to achieve victory. A tyre failure at the left rear wheel required an additional pit stop just a few minutes before the end. After 12 hours of driving and 1,779.303 kilometers Frank Biela/Marcel Fässler/Marco Werner had to admit defeat by 70.489 seconds.

Just 12 hours earlier, the race had started with car number 1 trailing in the wake of the Kataoka/Hairuman/Schneider Team Petronas Mercedes-Benz SLS GT3. On sheer outright pace, the SLS was quicker than the R8 LMS. Car number 1 was awarded a drive-through penalty after an on-track incident in the early stages of the race. This allowed the ‘Asian’ R8 LMS piloted by O’Young/Ara/Yoong through to hunt down the Schneider Mercedes.

The second R8 LMS of the WRT team had perfect chances for a podium place for a long time as well. Up to the race’s midpoint Seiji Ara/Darryl O’Young/Alex Yoong were running on position two as the best Audi drivers. When the car was about to lap another vehicle shortly before the end of the seventh racing hour another contender failed to notice the white-blue race car and suffered a hit. A broken swivel mount required the whole front left suspension to be exchanged. With a gap of 15 laps the Asian driver trio resumed the race and ultimately took fifth place.

Seiji Ara (MediaCorp Audi R8 LMS #2): “We finished fifth today. Unfortunately we were a bit unlucky in this race. Still: The Audi R8 LMS was very good and absolutely reliable. We were consistent and the race was fun. I want to thank the team and my team-mates.” Ara’s co-driver Darryl O’Young added: “In an endurance race anything can happen. At Bathurst in February we had that bit of necessary luck and won with the R8 LMS. This weekend we were among the front runners. We were in front of our team-mates and there was only a small gap between us and the leaders. But then there was the accident on lapping. That’s what makes these races so difficult. The whole team is naturally disappointed. And then the leading Audi had a tire failure just before the end to top things off. Being so close to victory and then losing after all is difficult of course. WRT is a fantastic team. It was a real pleasure. And the R8 LMS was very easy to drive. My thanks go to everyone in the team and to quattro GmbH for the support.”

Malaysian ex-F1 driver Alex Yoong, Ara and O’Young’s driving partner said: “Our team is very professional and the support is outstanding. We only had a short time to get to know each other and yet it was like being in a large family. Everyone was working for the same goal. I wasn’t able to do anything when a backbencher hit my car. He was penalized but that didn’t help me in any way. We lost half an hour. The tire failure on car number one so shortly before the end was a heart-breaking moment. But that’s how motorsport can be too.”

Almost at the same time the third Audi R8 LMS in the field suffered a setback as well. Alexandre Imperatori/Jeffrey Lee/Aaron Lim in the car of the customer team Pauian Archiland absolute racing were running in sixth place. They lost more than 90 minutes due to clutch failure since the proven module did not withstand an accidental start in second gear after a pit stop. In the end the trio still improved to finish in the top ten.

Towards the second half of the race, the Schneider Mercedes, faced an unexpected pit stop to rectify a problem. This let Car number 1 through to the lead of the race, but alas it was not to be – just 18 minutes before midnight, Marcel Fassler struggled to bring the racing machine back to the pits, limping over half a lap with one tyre almost off the rim. The subsequent pit stop let through the second Petronas SLS GT3 driven by Taniguchi/Yanagida/Ang through to the lead to take the chequered flag just minutes later. Tyre failure has thwarted an almost certain victory for Audi – heartbreaking for the team after coming so close.

Frank Biela (Audi Sport performance cars R8 LMS #1): “We were a bit unfortunate today. The only tyre failure that has arguably occurred in the top part of the field today was the one on our car. We caught it just before the end. That’s racing. The race is only over after 12 hours, and not after 11:40. But it’s been great to take part in this event again. It was very hard for the drivers and the material. But that’s the special attraction of this race.”

Marcel Fässler (Audi Sport performance cars R8 LMS #1): “The tyre blowout has been following me since Le Mans. In France we were lucky but here at Sepang it was really unfortunate. I had to drive a complete lap. I think that otherwise I could have easily managed to keep our advantage. I didn’t even risk anything but just kept driving my rhythm. Then the tire quit without any advance notice. Incredible! The team, my team-mates and the car were very good. We would have certainly deserved victory. Even after a drive-through penalty at the beginning of the race we pushed forward again. We also had the quickest pit stop in the field – in other words everything you need to take victory. It wasn’t meant to be.”

Added Biela and Fassler’s co-driver Marco Werner: “For a long time it was a pretty good race, as is typical for Audi. We drove good stints and the car was reliable as usual. It looked like an Audi victory but it’s not over before the checkered flag comes down. We’ve got to be satisfied with that today.”

Reinhold Carl, Managing Director of Audi Singapore: “Our drivers did a fantastic job and the cars performed well. Just missing out on the top spot is of course a big disappointment for the effort but this is racing; no one could have expected the puncture at such a critical point. Still, we have proven the speed, reliability and calibre of the Audi’s customer sport race cars.”

Vincent Vosse (Team Director WRT): “An endurance race is always a compromise of speed, experience, teamwork and the technical reliability of the car. And a bit of luck is part of it also. And that’s exactly what we were lacking here. We didn’t have the slightest technical problem with the cars. But just a few minutes before the end we had the tire failure. That’s a bitter pill. But we must be fair and admit that both Mercedes were very quick and also had their problems. But even though it’s very difficult for us, we’ve got to accept the outcome of the race.”