Audi on second and third row of the grid in Malaysia
Team WRT (Belgian Audi Club) has achieved a good starting base with its two Audi R8 LMS cars for the 12-hour race at Sepang, not only due to the grid positions: Frank Biela/Marcel Fässler/Marco Werner managed to set the third-best time overall in qualifying. Their team-mates Seiji Ara/Darryl O’Young/Alex Yoong took sixth place. Prior to the race, both squads have worked out a set-up to suit the unusually tough demands of the 12-hour competition.
The qualifying format that is not used in Europe already caused a high level of suspense. Every racer drove his own qualifying session. The aggregate of the respective fastest times set by the three drivers determined the grid positions. Marcel Fässler achieved the best lap time of all six Audi drivers at 2m 05.728s. In his R8 LMS he also drove the third-best time in his session. The second-fastest lap within the Audi driver squad was achieved by his team-mate Marco Werner at noon in 2m 06.257s.
However, the work of the WRT team was centered on a much more important task. With ambient temperatures of 35 degrees centigrade and track temperatures of about 50 degrees the team had to find a set-up for the 520-HP Audi R8 LMS that is easy on the material yet allows fast lap times. The tires and brakes are considered to be under particularly high stress on the 5.543-kilometer GP circuit near the equator. By simulating various stints the squad of team director Vincent Vosse managed to find an ideal compromise for the set-up under the high thermal loads.
The 12-hour race starts on Saturday at 12:00 local time (6:00 a.m. Central European time) and lasts 12 hours. Audi fans can find links to several videos from Sepang over the weekend on www.facebook.com/AudiSport.
