The 24 Hours of Le Mans is preparing to celebrate the centenary edition, a commemoration for which numerous events are already planned. Among these, there will be a parade on the La Sarthe circuit of some of the most iconic cars in the history of the French marathon, including the diesel Audis which, from the R10 to the R18, faced the Peugeots at the beginning of the third millennium in one of the most beautiful challenges ever in motorsport. Dindo Capello recalls the intensity of those Le Mans that remained in history.
How did the idea of racing with a diesel at Le Mans come about and how did it develop? It is a technology that has rarely been seen in the racing world…
Just yesterday I received a beautiful gift. Kristensen, Fassler and myself wrote the preface: it is a book on the history of Audi at Le Mans. It explains exactly how the Le Mans project and the TDI project came about. Let’s say that the Audi engine makers had understood well in advance that diesel had such high potential that, if exploited in the right way, it would have been a problem for everyone else in competitions. The hope of our engine engineers was that the technicians who drew up the regulations of that period would not quickly realize the potential of diesel. And indeed it was. Already from the first laps in Sebring, Florida, on the R10, it was understood that the potential was enormous. To give you an example, we had such devastating torque that the problem at the beginning was that, under acceleration, the tire rotated on the rim. In Endurance races the transmission is the most stressed part and with such a torque the risk was that there could be problems with the gearbox and differentials. So even from a design point of view we had to be very careful.
In terms of performance, it was assumed that there would be, but reliability could be an issue. I assure you that in all the TDI era there has never been a problem. Neither in competition nor in practice. The only time we had a big problem was at Le Mans when, due to a mistake by the personnel who divided the defective material to be thrown away from the performance material that had to be sent to the track, the two containers were reversed. We noticed it immediately at the second engine failure in two hours, because until then there had never been anything out of the ordinary. There we immediately reacted. That was human error. In many races we never retired due to engine problems, because the potential was so high that our technicians probably never even exploited it to the fullest. When Peugeot tried to stay ahead of us, if you remember, there were four cars, clearly faster than us, and all four retired early. Our technicians had understood earlier that you couldn’t go beyond a certain limit.
Diesel technology has led to the challenge with Peugeot, which was probably one of the greatest rivalries in the history of Le Mans. How was it lived from the inside?
Peugeot, like Audi, has extensive experience with diesel engines. They too understood already in 2007 – we made our debut in 2006 – that the potential of diesel was enormous. Above all, Peugeot has a wealth of experience. Like Audi, it is a manufacturer that has demonstrated that it is a winner in all the categories it has decided to enter. We have seen it in rallies, in desert races, in touring cars…Peugeot has won in all the categories in which it has participated. The fight was very tough because we knew that, having taken the closed car route, they had a big advantage over us from an aerodynamic point of view. We still believed in the open car policy. We knew that aerodynamically we would be inferior, but they could play some cards that we knew would be unfavorable for them with a closed car. 2008 proved it: they were clearly superior to us in terms of performance, but the fact that we had the car open in certain conditions, especially in the wet, proved us right. Although it seemed that we had absolutely no chance of success, that remained the most beautiful victory ever. We started in performance inferiority compared to Peugeot.
With regard to the challenges with Peugeot, is there any anecdote linked to the track or to some battles with other drivers that have stuck in your mind?
Many forget that what is now the Toyota team is made up largely of people who were in the Peugeot team. That’s why I say that Toyota’s experience represents an incredible advantage over the competition, because it was born from Peugeot’s experience, which it abandoned as a winning and super-competitive car and then strengthened even more with the Japanese technicians. The hard core of the team, however, came from managers and technicians who came from Peugeot Sport, therefore with great experience behind them. There are many anecdotes, because with Peugeot it was really a tough fight from all points of view. There were two major manufacturers, both oriented towards diesel, and therefore a huge share of the market when it comes to production cars. There really was a sporting war and more, from many points of view. For example, with Sébastien Bourdais we had many fights, always won, even with overtaking at the limit and spectacular actions. We confronted each other on many circuits, European, American and also Chinese, in Asia. The best fights I’ve had with him and I probably also became his nightmare. This despite the fact that I was much older than him and I was already at the end of my career, while he was and still is considered a great talent. He had raced in F1 and is still a winning driver in the USA today. Plus, he’s from Le Mans.
In 2007 I remember they did a great pole position but I immediately passed him in the first corner. I feinted him at the start, on the wet. He started with slicks on a wet track and from there this great battle began which would continue in the following years. I pretended to pass him inside, knowing that he was slimy: to block me he went along and I crossed his trajectory. From that moment began a ride which for me and for my team was perhaps the most beautiful ever in my Le Mans history, but which was also the one with the most ‘tragic’ ending. In 2007 it would have been the most beautiful victory for me, because already after two laps I was 10-11 seconds ahead of the second. If we consider that we started with slick tires on a damp track, it was a fantastic race for me, because in the first laps I gave everyone three-four seconds. From the driver’s point of view it was a great satisfaction: I looked in the mirrors and already after two laps I no longer saw anyone behind. That’s when I realized it was going to be a great race. Then we lost a wheel when we were over three laps ahead of second. That is one thing that I still can’t forget today: from my point of view it would have been the most beautiful victory. I really felt it was mine. From the first lap this absolute domination began, which then continued with Tom (Kristensen) and with Allan (McNish). Every time he got in the car it really made a big difference. Unfortunately then it ended as it ended. Only the 2008 victory erased this great disappointment, even if a victory lost at Le Mans is still a lost victory, which nobody will give us back.
If you could go racing at Le Mans again, with which car and with which teammates would you like to do it?
Among today’s cars, as an Italian, it is logical that I would like to race with Ferrari. And as teammates, assuming that I wouldn’t be able to race at Le Mans today and neither would the teammates I’m about to tell you, if we could, if we were all still in top form, it stands to reason that choose Tom and Allan over today’s Ferrari. If, on the other hand, we assume that now I was still able to run and be as fast as I was then, I had to choose two other teammates, they would probably be Giovinazzi and Pier Guidi. So we would make a trio of Italian drivers in Ferrari and I would also have the advantage that, if we were to win the race, I would still be the last Italian to have won. I would have raced with the Audi rings embroidered on the suit, at heart level.
Interview with Dindo Capello: part 1.
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