GT Tour: André Lotterer and Benoit Tréluyer join Belgian Audi Clubt Team WRT at Spa-Francorchamps

By Tarek Ramchani

André Lotterer and Benoit Tréluyer will join the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT at Spa-Francorchamps in the Belgian round of the French GT Tour.

The Audi Sport customer racing team will enter the GT Tour event with a pair of Audi R8 LMS ultra cars. The French series is using a Pro-Am formula, the two times Le Mans winners and 2012 FIA WEC champions not allowed to share the same car.

André Lotterer will drive along with Enzo Ide a regular with Belgian Audi Club Team WRT this year in the Blancpain Sprint Series.  Benoit Tréluyer will be joined by Yves Weerts.

At Spa-Francorchamps, the WRT team will target strong results as well preparing for the upcoming Spa 24 Hours. The Belgian squad is familiar with the French GT Tour. In 2011 they competed under their own banner, whilst in 2011 and 2012 they represented the official Audi France effort under Team Audi France name.

WRT will join at Spa the regular French Audi teams in GT Tour, Sébastien Loeb Racing, Sainteloc Racing and Team Speed Car.

Photo credit: IG Autorennsport

TUSC: Benoît Treluyer will join Paul Miller Racing for the Sebring and Daytona test days

By Johan Laubscher

The first TUDOR United SportsCar Championship test days are coming up this weekend, taking place at Sebring, followed by further test days at Daytona later in the week. Benoît Treluyer will be joining newly announced Audi entrants, Paul Miller Racing. 

On Wednesday it was officially announced that Paul Miller Racing will be fielding the #48 Audi R8 LMS in the GT Daytona (GTD) class next year. Bryce Miller is currently their only confirmed driver. 

Audi factory LMP1 driver, Benoît Treluyer, will join the team for the Sebring and Daytona test days. Paul Miller Racing will be fielding one of four expected Audi R8 LMS cars at Sebring, joining Fall-Line Motorsports and Flying Lizard Motorsports. All four will be joined by an Audi R8 LMS from Audi Sport customer racing at Daytona next week. Note the two Flying Lizard Motorsports entries are currently listed as TBA on the official entry lists.

The TUSC test days are taking place at Sebring (16-17 Nov) and at Daytona (19-20).

Photo credit: 

Audi of America [2013 Bob Chapman, Autosport Image]
Audi Sport Communication / Media

FIA WEC: Benoît Tréluyer : Only victory will suffice

Benoit Tréluyer Press Release

Following the two-month break since the previous round at Le Mans, it's a fully refreshed and invigorated Benoît Tréluyer who is eager to begin the second half of this year's FIA World Endurance Championship campaign. Five key events - beginning in Brazil this weekend and subsequently taking in the Kingdom of Bahrain, America, Japan and China - that will decide the destination of the 2013 WEC crown, a crown the reigning world champion is eager to retain.

However, Benoît and his Audi Sport team-mates André Lotterer and Marcel Fässler will need to score the best result possible in order to keep their hands on the title. Merely finishing in the points will not be enough to reduce the deficit to their nearest rivals and explains why Treluyer has continued his intensive preparation throughout a summer break that combined sport with family, friends and relaxation.

"There's been a lot of physical training, but I've also enjoyed spending time with my family and friends," confirms Benoît before catching his plane to Brazil. "I began [the summer break] by spending a week with my partners SRAM and GT in the Deux Alpes ski resort which was hosting Crankworx, a very prestigious mountain bike event. There was the Enduro World Cup, downhill mountain biking, slopestyle and the best riders in the world. It was a very enjoyable week and I did a lot of cycling! Straight afterwards me and my family headed for the north of France to spend a few days in Le Touquet, where the weather was great and a little cooler, before we returned south. We welcomed my sister, some friends and even a journalist who conducted an interview for the French off-road cycling magazine Vélo Vert, which was published in the August issue. Our house in Gordes has been full of visitors, but I've still found time to fine tune my physical condition and prepare for the end of the season. I am in great shape!"

Between bike training sessions, Benoît also indulged in another of his hobbies: restoring historic motorcycles!

"I am currently working on a René Gillet 125 VB from 1951 which we found in my wife Mélanie's grandfather's garage. I'm taking my time over it and having great fun!"

On top of all that, Tréluyer has also been backwards and forwards to Audi's Ingolstadt base in Germany several times in preparation for the second half of the season, which begins this weekend at Interlagos. As a boy it's a circuit he always dreamt of racing at and something he achieved for the first time last year.

"I love the circuit in Sao Paulo, despite discovering last year that the tarmac doesn't have too much grip. But we've made progress with both the tyres and car's aero since then so we'll have a set-up that's better suited this time. We will be much more competitive, that's for sure, but at the same time it's impossible to say by how much."

For the time being the only certainty is that the fight for this year's title will be extremely tight with the sister Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Loïc Duval.

"We will have to win everything and not miss out on a single point," predicts Benoît. "Last year, with André and Marcel, we won the championship largely thanks to the double points we scored for our Le Mans victory, which helped to cancel out some of the lesser results, such as at the 12 Hours of Sebring where we only scored one and a half points. Saying that, this year we managed to fight back and finish fifth at La Sarthe, which gave us a few precious points."

Ahead of Interlagos, the #1 crew trail their Audi Sport team-mates by 30 points. It's a significant gap, but one that is not insurmountable.

"Many things can happen over five races," insists the Frenchman. "Of course, we will have to work very hard to recover the lost ground, but we believe we can do it. We're not planning on throwing the towel in!"

Ingolstadt's other sports-prototype will not be their only significant opponent in Brazil where Benoît and his team-mates will also have one eye on Toyota.

"I do hope that our Japanese friends will fight hard until the end of the season and that we are going to have great battles against them, even if their focus seems to have shifted to next year. On our side as well, behind the scenes, we are actively preparing for 2014. The arrival of Porsche and a driver of Mark Webber's calibre is fantastic for the championship. We are all very curious to discover how we stack up against a proven F1 winner. On top of that he seems like a real good guy, with both feet on the ground. He's clever, works hard and has a profile that matches the WEC perfectly.

"But in the meantime there's still a championship for us to fight for."

Photo credit: Audi Media

Le Mans: Benoit Treluyer, Audi, a little luck and Henri

Benoit Treluyer Press Release

Le Mans 24 Hours Preview:

This weekend sees Benoît Tréluyer set out to clinch a third consecutive victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe. In order to achieve this feat he’ll be counting on the combined talents of Audi Sport, team-mates André Lotterer and Marcel Fässler, and the guidance of Le Mans 24 Hours legend Henri Pescarolo.

Starting this Wednesday Benoît, André and Marcel take to the stage in the first act of retaining their Le Mans crown. Unbeaten there since 2011, they enter this year’s edition as favourites despite being the first to recognise the size of the challenge that awaits them, be it from within their own Audi squad or rivals Toyota. In order to clinch a third-straight victory they will be relying on several key factors: their updated R18 e-tron quattro which has been further developed since last year’s race, the Audi Sport team and its expertise at Le Mans, their personal driver bond, vital assistance from lady luck, and finally – in the Frenchman’s case at least – lessons learnt from Henri Pescarolo.

“To win at La Sarthe you’re relying on the car, but it is also important that the driver has received the correct education,” says Benoît. “And to drive these type of cars ‘Pescarolo coaching’ is the best in the world! Henri is the reference: he taught me all of the basics and offered me the opportunity to race at Le Mans. The foundations of my success at the 24 Hours come from him. The way in which I manage my endurance races comes from what Henri taught me and I stick to it. His advice allowed me to grow and mature. Today, I hope that he regards my victories as a bit like his own. He is a great man for whom I have a lot of respect.”

That esteem is reciprocated and only continues to grow year after year. As such, next weekend the quadruple Le Mans winner (1972-74 and ‘84), and appearance record-holder (33 as a driver and 11 as team owner) will be keen to chart the progress and performance of his ex protégé.

“When I ended my driving career I decided to put all my energy into supporting drivers on the Elf Scholarship. Benoît was one of the good drivers we selected and then trained. He continued in single-seaters and achieved great things, but the doors to F1 never opened for him. It’s a shame but endurance racing benefited by gaining a first-class person. Benoît is a brilliant driver, very serious and whom I always had great trust in. As I always say, in order to win at Le Mans you have to be as quick as an F1 driver when required, intelligent and capable of adapting your driving style according to the evolution of your car, its tyres and how the race is unfolding. And you also need to be settled in your own mind and put others before your needs in the interests of the car and your team. Benoît has all of these qualities.”

When both men either meet privately or, in this instance, during a special occasion in June at the offices of l’Equipe newspaper, conversation inevitably gravitates towards Le Mans.

“The car to win, an efficient team to manage everything and team-mates capable of helping your bid: Benoît has all of these elements at Audi Sport. On top of this, drivers from western France have always done whatever they can to perform well at this race, which for them remains a major regional event in spite of its worldwide notoriety,” concludes Henri.

Meanwhile the Alençon-born apprentice, who is again looking forward to meeting his numerous local fans, knows just what his master is talking about: it’s for both Audi and his supporters that he will be aiming to clinch a third win at La Sarthe this year. And should that happen, it would help take him a step closer to emulating his mentor.

Le Mans 24 Hours Timetable*

Wednesday 19 June:
16:00 – 20:00: Free practice
22:00 – 00:00: Qualifying 1

Thursday 20 June:
19:00 – 21:00: Qualifying 2
22:00 – 00:00: Qualifying 3

Friday 21 June:
17:00 – 19:00: Drivers’ Parade

Saturday 22 June:
09:00 – 09:45: Warm-up
15:00: Start of the 81st edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours

Sunday 23 June:
15:00: Finish

*All times local

Photo credit: Audi Media

Le Mans: Benoît Treluyer in search of serenity

Benoît Treluyer Press Release

Le Mans 24 Hours Test Day: Last Sunday provided drivers with their only opportunity to reacquaint themselves with the Circuit de la Sarthe ahead of the world’s biggest motor race later this month. While the whims of the weather made this refresher course a little trickier than necessary, reigning double winner Benoît Tréluyer, along with Audi Sport team-mates André Lotterer and Marcel Fässler, was in relaxed mood.

Changeable track conditions, interrupted sessions and a busy programme to work through ensured that for some drivers Sunday’s Test Day was anything but a stroll in the park ahead of the 90th anniversary Le Mans 24 Hours on June 22/23. Perhaps the exception to that rule was Audi’s armada which, although not entirely unscathed by the day’s events, achieved all that it set out to in typically calm and methodical fashion.

“We have found what we came looking for,” states Benoît matter-of-factly. “We had a programme and followed it. During the morning, when it was raining and the racing line was wet, we made some adjustments for those quite specific conditions. Then in the afternoon, when the track was dry, we managed 48 laps that allowed us to complete our programme and learn new things. By the end it had been a productive day.”
Despite this being the scene of their consecutive Le Mans victories during the last two years, Benoît, André and Marcel were more focused on set-up than outright pace.

“In fact,” confirms the Frenchman, “each car worked on different and specific areas. One tested a qualifying set-up while another, for example, worked on aero loads. Due to the changing conditions it wasn’t an easy day, but the team is working like clockwork. Leena, our race engineer, reacted perfectly with all of the changes. I am really satisfied by the manner in which this test unfolded.”
It was also an opportunity to compare themselves with main rivals Toyota, even if initial practice on Wednesday 19 June will be the first proper assessment of where each team truly stands.

“It is really difficult to give an informed opinion,” underlines the reigning FIA World Endurance Champion and current points leader. “In any case we have achieved our entire planned programme. That was the target and everything looks good. All is working well. We still have some small adjustments to make but we are feeling relaxed rather than over-confident. That would be a mistake as Le Mans always punishes arrogance. The race is long, strategies differ and we should have a clearer view on Wednesday and Thursday next week.”

Loaded with fresh information, Benoît made a quick return trip to Paris before going on to the Vaucluse region and his adopted village of Gordes for a few days of rest. Then the pressure will begin to build…

“Personally,” he laughs, “I prefer the word power! We are in our little bubble with set objectives and a plan to follow. We remain focused on this. Pressure? We do everything we can to make sure it becomes foreign to us!”

Photo credit: Audi Media