In this business, we see product all the time and few leave a long-lasting impression. This was different. The R10 is real history, as it happens, and few realize that Audi's leap with the diesel is nothing less than a full-scale revolution in the motorsport ranks.
The choice of Paris for the initial roll out to select, and we do mean selected, members of the media was no accident. While no one dares to suggest there was malice, the sight of the R10 running a few laps around the Eiffel Tower was a slap-down at the automotive industry of France. It may not have had the History Channel effect of newsreel footage of the Wehrmacht marching down the Champs d'Elysee, but it was an invasion, and Audi intends to occupy the Sarthe region of France for a long time to come. Americans who have long been used to cheap fuel costs have yet to connect to the thought of smooth and economical diesel power. Visions of stinking Mercedes-Benz 240D taxicabs and semi trucks crowding the islands at gas stations are the standard view. Clinking, clanking collections of caliginous junk are the lasting impressions for the typical U.S. drivers of the legacy of one Rudy Diesel. Audi, ever mindful of these images, handled the launch of the R10 from both ends of the spectrum. Paris was the large canvas with full strokes of the brush, and Los Angeles was to be a preview of coming attractions.
Diesel power accounts for the majority of auto sales in Europe, and the advances in diesel technology have been at quickening pace since the first Gulf War. Governments only too aware of interruptions of fuel supplies have encouraged more fuel efficient vehicles. Efficiency is one thing; having a car that you want to drive is something else. The choice of diesel power from the lowest priced tintop to a flagship cruiser such as the Audi A8 has made the option to the social classes all that much more acceptable. When the market is three-quarters diesel, it had better damned well be.
The Volkswagen Group, through its Audi and Bentley brands, has owned the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2000. As the clich goes, nothing else comes close. In the case of the previous gasoline-powered R8, Audi rewrote all of the records in performance and reliability on the racetrack around the world.