The most surprising element to Audi's stunning victory at Le Mans with the R10 TDi was not that the Audi won; the biggest surprise was that no one was surprised, which speaks volumes about Audi. With an additional win at the Utah Grand Prix, Audi is three for three with the radical new diesel. Will this open the floodgates for diesels in motorsports? Before we go there, let's review a brief recent history of diesel power in racing.
The Audi R10 win at LeMans is not the first victory for a diesel in a 24-hour race. Another German manufacturer holds that distinction. A diesel-powered 3-series BMW sedan won the Nurburgring 24 hour race in 1997 with Hans Stuck and three other drivers behind the wheel. It was big news in Europe, but barely a blip on North American radar screens.
Volkswagen has played a significant role in developing diesels for racing. How about a TDi Golf producing 225 hp and 330 lb-ft of torque from a stock engine with custom exhaust and a chip? Or the Toureg buggy at the Dakar Rally Raid? Essentially half of the standard V10 TDi power plant, the buggy version is a 2.5-liter, inline five-cylinder turbodiesel producing nearly 400 hp and 600 lb-ft of torque. (And the rules require that the sealed air intake is restricted to 39 millimeters, or just over 1.5 inches. My shop vac sucks more air!)
Of course, the legendary Banks Sidewinder is still the world's fastest pickup. The Cummins diesel-powered Dodge Dakota set a top speed of 222 mph at Bonneville four years ago. Diesels are also popular in sportsman level drag racing.
We will certainly see more diesels in road racing. Audi will continue at LeMans, being joined in '07 by Peugeot in the P1 prototype class. Other road racing projects are in the works. Several diesel racing classes are already on track in Europe, primarily for small diesel sedans, which continue to dominate new car sales throughout the European Union.
Bonneville will continue to see a wide range of diesel power, especially in the truck and streamliner classes. The JCB DieselMax will shoot for 300 mph in a few weeks, and other diesel-powered racers are preparing for record attempts as well. More as this develops.
Diesel drag racing is also growing fast. Several old Pro Stock trucks are running diesel engines, most notably Duramax and Cummins engines. Look for six-second quarter miles and 200+ mph speeds from these hot rods.
Some have even proposed diesel power for Formula 1. An intriguing idea, but not too likely anytime soon. The last arena to be invaded by diesel will be American ovals. Open wheel racers will be last to try diesels. It would take a major manufacturer to fund the transition. Here's an interesting scenario: Mercedes makes a 4-liter V-8 turbodiesel for its S-class sedans, about the same dimensions as a small block Chevy. And the all-aluminum 4-liter engine weighs about the same as the Chevy. This engine could easily produce over 600 HP and 900 lb-ft of torque while outliving its gas-powered counterparts by a factor of three to five. Sounds like a cool stock-based racing engine to us.
That leaves NASCAR. NASCAR is the most logical spot for diesel power, especially in the Craftsman Truck series. NASCAR is considering changing the Busch series from cars nearly identical to the Nextel Cup racers to pony cars, now that Chevy is planning to bring back the Camaro, and Dodge the Challenger. If NASCAR had an ounce of sense (highly debatable), it would convert the truck series to diesel-power. All of the current runners have diesel engines.
The most surprising element to Audi's stunning victory at Le Mans with the R10 TDi was not that the Audi won; the biggest surprise was that no one was surprised, which speaks volumes about Audi. With an additional win at the Utah Grand Prix, Audi is three for three with the radical new diesel. Will this open the floodgates for diesels in motorsports? Before we go there, let's review a brief recent history of diesel power in racing.
