Just before the Test Day and within a couple of weeks of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Dr Ullrich, Head of Audi Motorsport, has kindly agreed to answer a few questions to Endurance-Info :

What can you say about the preparation of the season and your results so far?

“The preparation for this season started already last year. We are coming with a new concept, with a diesel-powered hybrid-car, the so called R18 e-tron quattro. The development was a very intense period of time. We did some tests during winter. We have been to the South of the United States to use the good weather there during January and February. Racing season started at the 12 hours of Sebring with our last year cars. This race was more a preparation for the team to optimize activities during the race. The first race with the new R18 ultra and the new R18 e-tron quattro was the race in Spa. We were able to win both races which is a really good start of the season but we know that the important race is going to come, the 24 hours of Le Mans.”

What are your hopes/ expectations so far?

“After so many years with great success in Le Mans our target is to go into the race and to be in the position to win the race. You never have a guarantee to win but you can prepare yourself that you are in the position to win the race. And that is what we have been looking for with the preparations we have done. So we hope that we are going for the victory in Le Mans.”

How do you imagine the 2012 Le Mans race?

“The 24 hours of Le Mans are never predictable. Every year it is a different race and we know that every year a new challenge is going to come. We have new competitors for example Toyota and their hybrid-car and we have some competitors we know already from the last years. But experience tells us that during the 24 hours of Le Mans you can never rely on what happened last year. So you have to be prepared for the unexpected and we try to be prepared for the unexpected.”

Claude Foubert