While on the other side of the world, tonnes of competitors are prepping up their hill-climbers for the Race into the Clouds, a different type of crowd are setting up their entirely different type of cars at the French countryside for the most demanding race in the world; the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And for the 2013 Official Testing, Audi and Aston Martin takes the stage as they top the time sheets in their respective categories.
Starting off with the mighty Four Rings, they are aiming to bag another victory in the LMP1 category for a 12th win since its participation back in 1999. Fielding three 2013-spec Audi R18 e-tron Quattro prototypes in which one of them is a longtail, all of them managed to score the first, second and third fastest times during the test.
The R18 piloted by Loic Duval clocked the fastest time of 3:22.583 around the 13.679km Circuit de la Sarthe. He will be teaming up with the “Scottish Terrier” Allan McNish and Mr. Le Mans himself, Tom Kristensen.
“Our new 2013-spec car in Le Mans aero specification is a good improvement. Audi’s aerodynamics guys have done a very good job and have given us not only good downforce but also good efficiency,” said McNish.
Since Peugeot is out of the game, Toyota is now the main rival for Audi as their TS030 is not to be underestimated with. They are putting two cars in the field and clocked the fourth and sixth fastest time during the test.
Meanwhile in the GTE category, Aston Martin is going all-out not only through its five-car 2013 Le Mans lineup, but also through the impressive times they posted in both the Pro and Am classes. The #97 Vantage GTE driven by Peter Dumbreck recorded a 3:58.806 in the Pro class, while Jamie Campbell-Walter dominated the Am class in his #96 Vantage GTE with his time of 4:00.867.
Another practice and the qualifying session will take place on June 19-20, with the race kicking off at 3pm Central European Time on Saturday, June 22.
