Art Talk with Tom Kristensen With all the heavyweights due in to Sebring for the winter test dates, all the attention will be on a pair of diesels ! So might as well get the ball rolling with an excerpt of an interview with Tom Kristensen that was done at the Art Center in Pasadena on the evening of January 3. The R10 made a brief appearance that night and then was on Lufthansa the next day back to Germany. TK has the lucky seven at La Sarthe… will 10 be enough to give him eight ? KM: Was your first drive of the R10 in Italy at the rollout? TK: No, around the Eiffel Tower. As far as I know nobody has beaten the time yet around the Eiffel. They complain a lot about traffic but you know racing drivers. But I got a good run. KM: I heard that the transmission made more noise than the motor when you tried getting in gear. Is that correct, the gearbox louder than the motor ? TK: That’s probably true but in a way I was in first gear all the time so I was not changing gears. I will find out soon and let you know ! KM: Since you haven’t driven it that much what has been the general feedback between your teammates regarding the characteristics of extra weight and the length of the R10 ? TK: The extra weight you have based in the rear obviously around the engine and the support you have in the gearbox and the driveshaft. The radiators are also bigger so you have a different weight balance already in this car then the R8. So that’s why you have a longer wheelbase. KM: Let’s take an example such as your favorite high speed turn in the U.S. TK: Road Atlanta, Road America, there’s a lot of good turns. Maybe Sebring turn 1 if they flatten it out. I look forward to trying that in the new car, it's a great run up to it but very bumpy. KM: Because of the longer wheelbase and the characteristics would you approach turn 1 at Sebring in the traditional way you’ve taken it, or would you expect it to be different? Is there a real dramatic difference betweenthe R10 and the R8 from the initial impressions? TK: It’s positive. You don’t feel the extra weight as much as you would imagine because of the wheelbase. It has a good front end, and the way Frank ( teammate Biela ) likes the front end in the slow corners better then the R8. The R8 has a little problem with understeer. But, the strange thing is the noise and it’s certainly through from the gearbox. There is a certain amount of noise but once the wind noise picks up it takes over the noise from the engine. KM: That’s interesting that you brought up about the understeering characteristics because I would have thought with the extra weight and longer wheelbase if it would have been difficult in a tighter turn. Hearing that it's been more of a positive experience, it sounds like the guys really did their homework. TK: Yes the guys at Audi Sport always do their homework. But of course there are different issues with the extra weight. What about can we go far with the tires? Because we know on days we will go a little bit longer on the fuel mileage that way, but it doesn’t help if we can’t go long on the tires, if we can’t find the right balance. Then we still have to optimize things of course. But let’s say from the first feedback you have a very good and new baby which is healthy and which we can improve. KM: You have made motorsport history with your seven wins at Le Mans but with the R10 you have a chance to make more than history but that of a contribution to the way race cars are perceived to the public. You are poised to make not just history but a contribution. This is nothing short of a revolution. TK: It is a revolution. It’s thinking for a market leader for these engines. You go through this project and you see that you can handle and develop and engineer this kind of machine. And you feel this way about all the Audi Sport people. Let’s say, the R8 was developed after the first two years and the second year they were designing it again and there was another package for 2002. And the rest, until today, there has been hardly any development going on. So, they have been making parts but now they are occupied with a new program. So what they have done, it looks great and from me personally, my dream, winning Le Mans has come through with the R8. The R8 to me and to Audi generally is maybe the best sportscar in the world when you look over the distance what they have achieved. To be a part of that to me is really, really cool. Then still being able to jump in the R10 that’s fantastic that they’d come out with this one now. That’s a great challenge. |
Kerry Morse |
