By Tarek Ramchani
A great start for Audi in the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship. The German brand has won the opening round at Silverstone, the presitgious RAC Tourist Trophy.
Today's race will be remembered as one of the most beautiful and most exciting races ever in the history of FIA WEC. Breathaking battles all race long for the overall victory and in all other three classes, LMP2, GTE-Pro and GTE-Am.
The winning #7 Audi R18 e-tron quattro driven by Marcel Fassler, André Lotterer and Benoit Tréluyer took a fully deserved race victory. The three drivers battled all race long against the strong factory Porsches.
With 15 minutes left, the leading Audi was hit by a Stop & Go penalty. Everyone feared that the race victory is gone, but Marcel Fassler was able to rejoin in front for the delight of the whole Audi Sport Team Joest crew members and drivers.
Second place went to the #18 Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Marc Lieb. The podium was completed by #1 Toyotas TS040 Hybrid drivers Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima. Their team-mates at Toyota Alexander Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin and Mike Conway ended in fourth place.
The second Audi entry had a frustratin race. The #8 R18 e-tron quattro shared by Lucas di Grassi, Loic Duval and Oliver Jarvis had techincal issues and lost several minutes in its garage. The three drivers ended the 6-hour race in fifth place overall, 4 laps down to their team-mates.
Photo credit: Audi Media
