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Le Mans / ALMS
LE MANS: Q&A With Audi’s Ralf Juttner
Audi Sport Team Joest technical director talks to SPEED.com about Toyota, the future of the R18 ultra and LMP1 privateers...
Audi Sport Team Joest technical director Ralf Juttner. (Photo: Audi Motorsport)
With stepped up competition, the battle for top race honors in the FIA World Endurance Championship has undoubtedly heated up. While having been the benchmark since the start of the season, Audi has come under increasing pressure from newcomers Toyota, which scored its first win in only its third race last month in Sao Paulo.
The German manufacturer, however, fought back and took a convincing 1-2 victory in last last weekend's Six Hours of Bahrain following a technical issue and accident for the TS030 Hybrid.
SPEED.com caught up with Audi Sport Team Joest technical director to get his thoughts on the Toyota rivalry, the future of the R18 ultra and the state of LMP1 privateer racing.
Q: What are your thoughts on Toyota's pace and what areas could the R18 e-tron quattro see improvement on?
JUTTNER: Their new downforce package made them competitive. At Silverstone they were there and could have been much better... In Sao Paulo, they had some luck with the [safety] car that gave them from a 14 or 15 second difference to about a half lap.
We are suffering at the moment from the performance of the tires in the second stint. That was our concern since Silverstone but we were able to overcome it. But we couldn't overcome it in Sao Paulo.
You know what your cars are able to do and you have experience, but you never know what your opponent can do unless you see it in the race. And [Toyota] was not losing that much in the second stint. When you see that, you know you're [in trouble].
Q: Following the apparent success of Toyota’s controversial ‘wheel arch’, has Audi considered adopting something similar?
JUTTNER: We will not invest in something like that for the last two or three races of the year. You will not see it from us and honestly, I believe that next year, you won't see it at all anymore.
They will change the rules in a way as they did from 2009 to 2010, when in 2009 the R15 was declared legal. It was protested by Peugeot but the protest was dismissed. But over the winter, the ACO changed the rules so that the R15 from 2009 would not be [legal] anymore, so we had to do a major change to the R15 plus.
With [Toyota's] wing, I'm pretty sure it will be the same because this is not what [the ACO/FIA] wants. Toyota obviously found a clever loophole, as did we with the R15, and that's what the game is all about.
Q: While having made the switch entirely to R18 e-tron quattros for the remainder of the season, do you foresee running the R18 ultra ever again?
JUTTNER: Unless something unforeseen happens, I don't think so. It was one of the reasons to switch now. For us, we have equal chances for both crews and also it's a good chance to train engineers, mechanics and everything from car No. 2. The handling and all of the safety aspects are different.
Q: Do you think the R18 ultra could be a viable customer car?
JUTTNER: It could be, probably. But I guess they would still need some attendance from Audi Sport, a team that [knows the car]. It has always been the case with Audi, at least on the engine side.
Q: What do you hope can be done for LMP1 privateers in the future?
JUTTNER: I think it's very important and hope that from 2014 on, we will come back a little bit to old times, where the changes in the cars are not that big. Where a manufacturer like Audi, Toyota or Porsche can take one-year-old cars, sell them to customers, with a little bit of help, and have them run. It probably won't be to the same level, but it would give them a chance that they can have a podium.
I look back at teams like Champion. When we were in America with the factory team in the ALMS, they were always basically running a step older car. They weren't having the same performance, except for the last year in 2003, where we had exactly the same cars. They were running at the front and fighting against the factory team and were desperately trying to beat it. At some stage, it worked. And that's what the privateer teams need.
The last few years, we've built new cars, partly because we are forced to. For me, it's important that we get more stability like we had back then.
I think the much better way is to get the level of the private teams up instead of pushing the level of everyone else down. The FIA and ACO want the manufacturers and they want them for a reason. I think they need them. Otherwise, they'd have an old prototype cup with 10-year-old boxes running around... and this cannot be the goal.
If you have a good [series] with competition between manufacturers, and the rules are stabilized, so that the cars that come out at the end of a season can go somewhere for a reasonable price and a reasonable amount of support, so that private teams can really afford them, then I think that's the best.
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
The German manufacturer, however, fought back and took a convincing 1-2 victory in last last weekend's Six Hours of Bahrain following a technical issue and accident for the TS030 Hybrid.
SPEED.com caught up with Audi Sport Team Joest technical director to get his thoughts on the Toyota rivalry, the future of the R18 ultra and the state of LMP1 privateer racing.
Q: What are your thoughts on Toyota's pace and what areas could the R18 e-tron quattro see improvement on?
JUTTNER: Their new downforce package made them competitive. At Silverstone they were there and could have been much better... In Sao Paulo, they had some luck with the [safety] car that gave them from a 14 or 15 second difference to about a half lap.
We are suffering at the moment from the performance of the tires in the second stint. That was our concern since Silverstone but we were able to overcome it. But we couldn't overcome it in Sao Paulo.
You know what your cars are able to do and you have experience, but you never know what your opponent can do unless you see it in the race. And [Toyota] was not losing that much in the second stint. When you see that, you know you're [in trouble].
Q: Following the apparent success of Toyota’s controversial ‘wheel arch’, has Audi considered adopting something similar?
JUTTNER: We will not invest in something like that for the last two or three races of the year. You will not see it from us and honestly, I believe that next year, you won't see it at all anymore.
They will change the rules in a way as they did from 2009 to 2010, when in 2009 the R15 was declared legal. It was protested by Peugeot but the protest was dismissed. But over the winter, the ACO changed the rules so that the R15 from 2009 would not be [legal] anymore, so we had to do a major change to the R15 plus.
With [Toyota's] wing, I'm pretty sure it will be the same because this is not what [the ACO/FIA] wants. Toyota obviously found a clever loophole, as did we with the R15, and that's what the game is all about.
Q: While having made the switch entirely to R18 e-tron quattros for the remainder of the season, do you foresee running the R18 ultra ever again?
JUTTNER: Unless something unforeseen happens, I don't think so. It was one of the reasons to switch now. For us, we have equal chances for both crews and also it's a good chance to train engineers, mechanics and everything from car No. 2. The handling and all of the safety aspects are different.
Q: Do you think the R18 ultra could be a viable customer car?
JUTTNER: It could be, probably. But I guess they would still need some attendance from Audi Sport, a team that [knows the car]. It has always been the case with Audi, at least on the engine side.
Q: What do you hope can be done for LMP1 privateers in the future?
JUTTNER: I think it's very important and hope that from 2014 on, we will come back a little bit to old times, where the changes in the cars are not that big. Where a manufacturer like Audi, Toyota or Porsche can take one-year-old cars, sell them to customers, with a little bit of help, and have them run. It probably won't be to the same level, but it would give them a chance that they can have a podium.
I look back at teams like Champion. When we were in America with the factory team in the ALMS, they were always basically running a step older car. They weren't having the same performance, except for the last year in 2003, where we had exactly the same cars. They were running at the front and fighting against the factory team and were desperately trying to beat it. At some stage, it worked. And that's what the privateer teams need.
The last few years, we've built new cars, partly because we are forced to. For me, it's important that we get more stability like we had back then.
I think the much better way is to get the level of the private teams up instead of pushing the level of everyone else down. The FIA and ACO want the manufacturers and they want them for a reason. I think they need them. Otherwise, they'd have an old prototype cup with 10-year-old boxes running around... and this cannot be the goal.
If you have a good [series] with competition between manufacturers, and the rules are stabilized, so that the cars that come out at the end of a season can go somewhere for a reasonable price and a reasonable amount of support, so that private teams can really afford them, then I think that's the best.
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
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