Motor Racing
A motor racing version of the common rail TDI engine made an impact in March 2006 when it was used in the Le Mans Prototype (LMP) Audi R10 TDI, and made its debut win in the 12 Hours of Sebring race. This victory was followed three months later by another one in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, becoming the first diesel-powered car to win these endurance races. Fuel economy was a significant factor, as the car did not have to refuel as often as petrol engined race cars in the race. The car was fueled with a special synthetic V-Power diesel from Shell. The Audi R10, R15 and R18 TDIs have won at Le Mans 5 times in 6 years, from 2006 to 2011, with only the 2009 race being won by Peugeot's 908 HDi FAP, which is also a diesel powered car.
In 2007, SEAT – with the León Mk2 TDI at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben in Germany – became the first manufacturer to win a round of the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) series in a diesel car, only a month after announcing it will enter the FIA World Touring Car Championship with the León TDI. SEAT's success with the León TDI was continued, and resulted in winning consecutively 2008 World Touring Car Championship and 2009 World Touring Car Championship both titles (for drivers as well as for manufacturers).
In 2008, SEAT – with the León Mk2 TDI at Donington Park in England - became the first manufacturer to win a round of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) in a diesel-powered car. Jason Plato won race 1 of the weekend and Darren Turner won race 3.
Read more about this topic: Turbocharged Direct Injection
Famous quotes containing the words motor and/or racing:
“The motor idles.
Over the immense upland
the pulse of their blossoming
thunders through us.”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“Upscale people are fixated with food simply because they are now able to eat so much of it without getting fat, and the reason they don’t get fat is that they maintain a profligate level of calorie expenditure. The very same people whose evenings begin with melted goat’s cheese ... get up at dawn to run, break for a mid-morning aerobics class, and watch the evening news while racing on a stationary bicycle.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)