Audi's most efficient R18 yet.

Audi say that they will field the slipperiest and least thirsty R18 to date at Test Day in under three weeks from now on the 1st of June. They proclaim that R18 e-tron quattro uses less fuel than any of its predecessors. They have developed two variants of the R18, a low drag one for Le Mans and another for the remainder of the WEC. The two body versions can be easily distinguished by the position of the openings above the front wheels. The low down-force variant having them on the inside of the front wing rather than on top. 

The Le Mans 24 version of the R18 e-tron quattro. 

Picture : Audi Motorsport

Jan Monchaux, who is the head of Aerodynamics at Audi Sport said: “We analyse its performance potential by means of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)...  this eliminates the need for considerably more complex wind tunnel tests. We then continue to elaborate the strengths of the initial design step by step and reduce potential deficits in the process,”

Although appearing to be slightly off the pace at Spa WEC they still went away with a respectable 2nd place finish, and of course the 24 hours of Le Mans favours the long game rather than outright speed. After Toyota's win and Porsche's pole position in Belgium, it has been a long time since three works teams so well matched have measured up to each other in La Sarthe. We have the prospect of a real battle of titans for the 82nd running of the 24 hours of Le Mans on 14th and 15th of June 2014.

Source: Audi Motorsport press information.