Audi R10: A boon or a bust?

After the spectacular presentation in Paris in December and a brief appearance at the Los Angeles Auto Show at the beginning of January, the Audi R10 is again proving to be a sensation: Since Monday, the new diesel sports car turns its first laps in front of public eyes at the "Winter Test" of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) at Sebring (Florida). The media interest is correspondingly high: Never before have there been so many journalists, camera teams and photographers attending an American Le Mans Series test. The Audi R10 has even attracted spectators to attend Sebring, the venue for the new Audi sports car’s race debut on 18 March.

The development team of Audi Sport runs two Audi R10 prototypes at Sebring. German Frank Biela and Italian Rinaldo Capello are driving the two cars. While Biela had completed the roll-out of the R10 in November 2005, Capello was at the steering wheel of the new diesel sports car for the first time on Monday.

On Monday, the two Audi drivers completed a total of 86 laps around the 5.955-kilometre circuit that is especially demanding for machinery due to its bumpy surface and is regarded as an ideal test track for a new race car. Furthermore, the newly developed V12 TDI engine faces its first test in high temperatures: While the previous tests in Europe were run in cool weather conditions, temperatures in Florida are reaching about 30 degrees C in the shade. Audi Communications

[Editor's Note: We are getting reports from Sebring that the fumes from the Diesel engine are horrible. The car is also dead silent and you hear the wind noise and the chirps from the turbo wastegate, but not the roar of the engine. As the car approaches a blind corner you don't even know it's coming.]