VIDEO: The Crocodile is back! - A look at the last time the Croc won Down Under - 2000 ALMS Adelaide finale

By Johan Laubscher

The Bathurst 12 Hour is only a few hours away and will be getting underway at 05:50 local time on Sunday morning.

Phoenix Racing will be starting from pole position with the #15 "Kangaroo" liveried Audi R8 LMS ultra driven by Markus Winkelhock, Marco Mapelli and pole-man, Laurens Vanthoor. The German team's second car has a very special revival of a unique bit of Audi motorsport history in Australia. The #16 Audi R8 LMS ultra, driven by Felix Baumgartner, Christopher Haase and Stéphane Ortelli, is wearing a "Crocodile" themed livery.

It is indeed the return of the Crocodile, because this livery is a throwback to a special design which raced and won in Australia over a decade ago. The occasion was the 2000 American Le Mans Series finale and the track was Adelaide in Australia on New Year's Eve. Audi Sport Team Joest entered two Audi R8 sportscars in the race dubbed as the "Race of a Thousand Years." Their leading entry was the championship leading #77 Audi R8 driven by Allan McNish and Dindo Capello. The car was given a special "Crocodile" livery for its race in Australia. This livery has a special place in Audi motorsport history and will always be remembered for its victory in Adelaide.

As we wait for the beginning of the 2015 Bathurst 12 Hour, let's look back at the previous time that the "Crocodile" raced in Australia. We have embedded the two-hour highlights package of the 2000 ALMS Race of a Thousand Years below, enjoy:

Photo credit: Audi Communications - Motorsport

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PHOTOS: All of Tom Kristensen's victories with Audi

By Tarek Ramchani

A look back with photos at all Tom Kristensen victories with Audi. He joined the Four Rings in 2000 winning the prestigious 12 Hours of Sebring with the legendary Audi R8.

Since then the Danish ace scored no less than seven outright victories with Audi LMP cars at Le Mans 24 Hours including all the Audi R8 victories at La Sarthe between 2000 and 2005. TK won the 2002 American Le Mans Series and the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship drivers' titles.

Victories in Touring Car racing with Audi as well. Tom Kristensen won four times in the demanding Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters with various Audi A4 DTM cars.

Tom Kristensen may have retired from professionnal racing but Audi loyal fans and the whole motorsport community won't forget his amazing career and achievements. TK is simply the one and only Mr Le Mans.

12 Hours of Sebring, March 18th 2000 - American Le Mans Series - Audi R8

Le Mans 24 Hours, June 18th 2000 - Audi R8

Grand Prix of Texas, March 4th 2001 - American Le Mans Series - Audi R8

 ELMS Race at Donington Park, April 14th 2001 - American Le Mans Series - Audi R8

ELMS Race at Jarama, May 20th 2001 - American Le Mans Series - Audi R8

Le Mans 24 Hours, June 17th 2001 - Audi R8

Grand Prix of Sonoma, July 22nd 2001 - American Le Mans Series - Audi R8

Le Mans 24 Hours, June 16th 2002 - Audi R8

Road America, July 7th 2002 - American Le Mans Series - Audi R8

Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, August 3rd 2002 - American Le Mans Series - Audi R8

Mosport, August 18th - American Le Mans Series - Audi R8

Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, October 12th 2002 - American Le Mans Series - Audi R8

1000Km of Spa-Francorchamps, August 31st 2003 - FIA Sportscar Championship - Audi R8

1000Km of Le Mans - November 9th 2003 - Audi R8

Le Mans 24 Hours, June 16th 2004 - Audi R8

Oschersleben, August 8th 2004 - Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters - Audi A4 DTM

12 Hours of Sebring, March 19th 2005 - American Le Mans Series - Audi R8

Le Mans 24 Hours, June 19th 2005 - Audi R8

12 Hours of Sebring, March 18th 2006 - American Le Mans Series - Audi R10 TDI

Oschersleben, May 21st 2006 - Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters - Audi A4 DTM

Zandvoort, September 3rd 2006 - Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters - Audi A4 DTM

Le Mans 24 Hours, June 15th 2008 - Audi R10 TDI

12 Hours of Sebring, March 21st 2009 - American Le Mans Series - Audi R15 TDI

Hockenheimring, May 17th 2009 - Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters - Audi A4 DTM

12 Hours of Sebring, March 17th 2012- FIA World Endurance Championship - Audi R18 TDI

6 Hours of Silverstone, April 14th 2013 - FIA World Endurance Championship - Audi R18 e-tron quattro

Le Mans 24 Hours, June 23rd 2013 - FIA World Endurance Championship - Audi R18 e-tron quattro

6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas, September 22nd 2013 - FIA World Endurance Championship - Audi R18 e-tron quattro

Photo credit: Audi Media

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Artwork: Audi R18 e-tron quattro Champion Racing

By Tarek Ramchani

A great Audi R18 e-tron quattro from Forza Motorsport 5. The car carrying the legendary Champion Racing paint scheme.

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Goodbye American Le Mans Series 1999-2013

By Tarek Ramchani

Road Atlanta hosted the last ever race for the American Le Mans Series last weekend. Founded by Don Panoz in 1999, following the successful Petit Le Mans race in 1998,

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ALMS 2002: Audi and Tom Kristensen the series champions

By Tarek Ramchani

After two very successful seasons in the American Le Mans Series, Audi would again come back in 2002, as the defending champions with their all-conquering Audi R8 cars.

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Artwork: The "Crocodile" Audi R8

By Tarek Ramchani

The American Le Mans Series had a special season finale in the year 2000. The ALMS moved Down Under to Australia, for a race at Adelaide.

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USCR: Audi R8 in GT, what about Daytona Prototypes or LMP2 power?

By Tarek Ramchani

Grand-Am Road Racing, the American Le Mans Series and its series sanctioning body IMSA (International Motorsport Association) has published the classes structures and regulations for the newly formed United Sportscar Series

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ALMS 2001: Audi defended their titles - Emanuele Pirro champion

By Tarek Ramchani

Part two of Audi's legacy in the American Le Mans series, focusing this time on the 2001 season. The year 2000 was a magical season for Audi

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ALMS 2000: Audi arrived in America and beats BMW and Panoz

By Tarek Ramchani

As 2014 is approaching with a new era in North American sportscar racing, with the birth of the United SportsCar Racing, we at the Audi Motorsport Blog start a series of  posts about Audi's era of dominance in the ALMS.

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Video: The legend's last race was victorious - Audi R8

By Johan Laubscher

The Audi R8 LMP will forever be a legend. After six years of competition the old girl was still competitive, and running at the front in international sports car racing. The car won a staggering 63 races from 80 starts, making it one of the all time great race cars. 

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Gallery: Best of 12 Hours of Sebring by lendurance.co.uk

By Tarek Ramchani

Audi won the 12 Hours of Sebring overall for the eleventh time. A fantastic 1-2 victory for Audi Sport Team Joest with the Audi R18 e-tron quattro. The #1 Audi of Benoit Treluyer, Oliver Jarvis and Marcel Fassler ahead of the sister #2 machine of Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Lucas di Grassi. This was the last time ever for Audi Sport at Florida's classic with an LMP1 car. The new formed United SportsCar Racing which will replace the ALMS and the Rolex Series won't use anymore the top LMP1 class.

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Another historic success for Audi

Audi Press Release 

•          First triumph of a hybrid race car at Sebring
•          One-two victory of the Audi R18 e-tron quattro on U.S. debut
•          Fässler/Jarvis/Tréluyer win endurance classic

Ingolstadt/Sebring, March 17, 2013 – Another historic racing success for Audi: The Audi R18 e-tron quattro’s victory marked the first ever of a hybrid race car at the Sebring (Florida) 12 Hours in the history of the U.S. endurance classic. 

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Audi wins the final LMP1 Sebring 12 Hours

By Johan Laubscher

Audi Sport Team Joest has won the 2013 Sebring 12 Hours. A 1-2 finish after a very long race. Victory went to the #1 driving crew of Marcel Fässler, Benoît Tréluyer and Oliver Jarvis in the 2012 Audi R18 e-tron quattro. The #2 squad of Lucas di Grassi, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish finished second in the 2013 Audi R18 e-tron quattro.

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Follow the Sebring 12 Hours LIVE

By Johan Laubscher 

The Sebring 12 Hours is taking place this weekend. It will be the last Sebring under the current ALMS regulations, and the very last appearance of LMP1 cars at Sebring. This makes it a very special occasion as Audi is aiming for their eleventh overall victory to mark the swansong of the LMP1 category at Sebring. 

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Ten Audi victories at the 12 Hours of Sebring

By Tarek Ramchani

Since the debut of the Audi sportscar program with Le Mans prototypes, the German brand has almost always competed at the prestigious 12 Hours of Sebring.

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Video: Onboard the Sebring pole position lap

By Johan Laubscher 

Audi Sport Team Joest have taken pole postion at Sebring. The #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro, driven by Marcel Fässler, set the pole time of 1:43.886, beating Allan McNish by a mere 0.009s.

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Record lap of the Audi R18 e-tron quattro

Audi Press Release

•          Marcel Fässler achieves new qualifying track record at Sebring
•          Both hybrid race cars of Audi Sport Team Joest on front row
•          Tenth pole position in total for Audi at Sebring

Ingolstadt/Sebring, March 15, 2013 – The Audi R18 e-tron quattro is causing a sensation on its first racing commitment in the United States. In qualifying for the 12-hour race at Sebring (Florida) both hybrid race cars from Audi Sport Team Joest clearly beat the previous qualifying track record. 

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Spot the difference: 2013 vs 2012 Audi R18 e-tron quattro

By Johan Laubscher

Audi Sport has released the first real-world image of the new 2013 Audi R18 e-tron quattro (pictured in the cover image), along with a variety of renders. In the last few months a number of spy photos appeared online, prompting the usual pre-season winter speculation. It appeared that the 2013 version of the latest generation Audi sportscar would remain visually similar to the 2012 variant. Based on the renders released today this seems to be the case, but there are a number of significant differences.

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Audi makes Sebring the ‘home of quattro’

Audi Press Release

•          First race for the Audi R18 e-tron quattro in the USA
•          Farewell event for LMP1 class with historic automobile exhibition
•          Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich: “Emotional race weekend”

Ingolstadt, March 8, 2013 – It is a debut and a farewell at the same time: the Audi R18 e-tron quattro contests the 12-hour race at Sebring (Florida) in the USA for the first time on March 16 and, in doing so, makes the legendary racetrack ‘home of quattro’. At the same time, it is provisionally the LMP1 sports car’s final appearance in the North American endurance classic.

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Allan McNish given opportunity for more Sebring success

Allan McNish Press Release

Dumfries-born Allan McNish will bid to chalk up his fifth and Audi's 11th victory in the Sebring 12 Hour race next month (16 March). McNish, a "veteran" of nine Sebring races, will race a diesel-hybrid Audi R18 e-tron quattro sports-prototype. McNish and Tom Kristensen (Denmark) are joined by Lucas di Grassi (Brazil) - the same line-up as at last year's São Paulo Six Hour FIA World Endurance Championship race.

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