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BRASELTON, Ga., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time, a diesel-powered sportscar has won the American Endurance classic "Petit Le Mans". Withtheir victory at Road Atlanta, Audi prematurely clinched the Manufacturers'Championship in the LM P1 "top class" of the American Le Mans Series havingalready won the Drivers' and Teams' titles. The new Audi R10 TDI remainsunbeaten in the seventh race of its debut season, having now won the thirdmost important Endurance race of the year after the 12 Hours of Sebring inMarch and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
Audi triumphed at Road Atlanta despite its gasoline-powered LM P1 prototype competitors being allowed to race with 143 pounds less weight making them faster than the two R10 TDI prototypes. The key to success was the reliability of the revolutionary diesel sportscar which ran throughout the 1000 miles without the slightest technical problem. Consistent lap times, a good strategy, fast pit stops and the low consumption of the V12 TDI engine made the Audi success possible.
In front of a record crowd of over 90,000 spectators, the Audi drivers had to fight hard with the gasoline-powered prototypes, especially in the first half of an incident-packed race. The lead kept changing before the two Audi R10 TDI cars finally settled themselves in the top two positions at the beginning of the seventh hour and looked set for a commanding 1-2 result.
Thirteen minutes before...