Motorsport: Marcel Fässler sees opportunities for the future
Marcel Fässler's prospects of clinching his fourth victory at Le Mans darkened as early as in the early stages. The new Audi R18 cars are not yet mature enough to be able to stand up to Porsche and Toyota. The tenth race at Le Mans, which ended in fourth place, will have no significance in Marcel Fässler's profile. [...]
The tenth race at Le Mans, which ended in fourth place, will have no significance in Marcel Fässler's profile. His chances of clinching his fourth victory in his seventh start as an Audi factory driver had already evaporated after two hours of racing. Although Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer emerged as overall leaders on the 12th and 13th laps, this had more to do with strategy than Audi's performance. The two R18 cars did not yet show the reliability that Audi has been known for in the past. Compared to the Porsche 919 and Toyota TS050, they were not yet fast enough on this unique track. The 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours came a month or two too early for Audi Sport. Now the men of the four rings will have to work even harder to avoid losing ground in the remaining six 6-hour races in the World Championship.
"We simply had too many problems, and in our case these were right from the start," the 40-year-old from Schwyz put it succinctly. "I was surprised that we didn't have the pace we had expected in the race, even though we had worked specifically towards this in training. The others were perhaps a tad better, and we also felt that we didn't have that much power from our hybrid system and couldn't make up for this handicap in the corners with our radical aerodynamics. Our teammates still made it onto the podium with minor problems, but they were never within direct striking distance of the top."
The worst thing that can happen to you as a racer
His own disappointment was mixed with a lot of sympathy for the fate of his two compatriots. I can also sympathize with him. We've known each other for a long time and feel sorry for the different fates of his two compatriots and rivals Sébastien Buemi and Neel Jani. "It's bitter and I feel sorry for Seb. To be so close to a deserved victory in this race in particular and yet to lose it is the worst thing that can happen to you as a driver and as a team. At least Neel, another Swiss, won. I don't begrudge him that. We've known each other for a while and have a good relationship."
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Photos: Factory
