---

Ricardo Transmission Helps Audi to First Sportscar Victory

11 April 2000

Ricardo Transmission Helps Audi to First Sportscar Victory RICARDO LOGO Ricardo, Inc. logo. (PRNewsFoto)[KI] PLYMOUTH, MI USA 03/30/2000    

    *  Advanced transmission by Audi's technical partner proves its resilience
       for 1-2 result in Sebring 12-hour race.
    *  Ricardo rear differential shares similar success with Viper Team Oreca,
       which achieved a 1-2-3 placing in the GTS class


    BELLEVILLE, Mich., April 10 A state-of-the-art
transmission designed and developed by Ricardo has helped Audi's R8 racing
sportscars score a one-two finish in the Sebring 12-hour endurance race in
Florida on March 18th, 2000.
    (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000330/RICLOGO )
    The independent vehicle-engineering consultants faced new and complex
challenges in designing the transmission and casings for the prototype class
sportscars, including the need to reduce the overall weight of the transaxle
by 20 kg and its size by 20 percent without compromising reliability.
    The transmission forms an integral part of the vehicle structure and has
to carry all aerodynamic and suspension loads at the rear of the vehicle,
including lateral forces of up to 2g.  The all-new transmission was designed
and manufactured in 16 weeks and ran for the first time in January.
    The Ricardo motorsport transmission has to cope with 610bhp and 700Nm of
torque from the Audi R8 twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V8 engine.  Peak loads are
reached each time a sequential shift is made, and it is estimated that each
sportscar will have changed gear up to 14,000 times throughout the race.
    "We're delighted to have played a part in Audi's success," says Mark
Barge, director of motorsport, Ricardo Midlands Technical Center.  "To win a
12-hour endurance race you first have to finish the race, and for a component
as highly stresses as a motorsport transmission that is a worthy and
worthwhile challenge."
    The dominant Sebring performance marked Audi's maiden sportscar victory.
The two racecars each completed 360-laps, a near record distance of over 1,300
miles.  Audi also smashed the lap record by almost 1.5-seconds on the
grueling, punishing and bumpy 3.7-mile circuit.  Both Audi's started the
historic race from the front row.
    The Sebring 12-hours is the first of 12-races comprising the American Le
Mans Series (ALMS), a championship that includes a 500-kilometer evening race
at Silverstone on May 13.  The latest round of the series was held on
April 1 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
    Ricardo shared similar success at Sebring with the Dodge Viper GTS-R
sportscars entered by Viper Team Oreca, which achieved a 1-2-3 placing in the
GTS class.  For these sportscars Ricardo supplied the rear differential and
some of the key internal parts of the transmission.