Q & A with Audi's Wolfgang Ulrich

Dr Wolfgang Ulrich: "There are two teams that have the realistic aim to win this race and that's the greatest situation that can happen for the spectators because we will see a good battle.

"Both teams have their good and bad points. The bad they try keep to themselves and the good they try to use to the maximum. I'm looking forward to seeing a strong and long battle for this race."

Q. Peugeot look to have an advantage on pace. Does that change the way you approach the race, tactically?

WU: "I don't think the situation makes a difference. Le Mans is a race where you always have to push from the beginning to the end because you never know what might happen. You need every second that you can get.

"There was never, ever a race where we said 80% is enough. That could be the biggest error you can make because five laps later you could have an exploded tyre and have to limp back to the pits. For this repair you would needed the 15 seconds you lost when you went slower. This is dangerous so we never did it, I always pushed my guys to go for 24 hours as fast as the car can go, and I think that's the only way to do it.

"You also must have a car that gives the drivers confidence in going fast, because when they are less stressed the chance of error is reduced. Because of this, we will concentrate 100 per cent on the best set-up for the race. We will not even waste one lap for a qualifying set-up because it is not important here.

"We've come to Le Mans so many times and our target is to make the best possible result, which is victory in the race. But if you win it in the end, it's something that is a big part in your hands but not 100%.

Q. Are you confident that Audi is in a strong position when it comes to reliability?

WU: "We had a very reliable car last year, and through all the years at Le Mans. In most cases, if we needed a repair it was caused by accidents. Reliability is a key issue and I'm quite optimistic that we are really on a good level of reliability. But the small things that can happen that are not really reliability, but can still bring you back to the garage for repairs, are very difficult to estimate.

"The team that handles the unplanned the best has an advantage. I think we have a lot of experience with unplanned situations and have proved how fast we can repair quite badly damaged cars and bring them back into racing. I hope we don't need this, but in case we do, I think we can do an excellent job.

"One thing is sure, I'm quite convinced that a car that can constantly do a good speed and needs nothing but fuel, tyres and drivers changed, will be on the podium somewhere."

Q. The No.3 car has been as quick as its experienced teammates so far. Do you believe any of the three could be the lead Audi?

WU: "This is a good situation, to have three cars with each one able to win the race. This has been the situation for us in most years here. We gave the youngsters, who last year were in the car for the first time at Le Mans and didn't have much LMP1 experience, the chance with ALMS and LMS to have ongoing racing in this car, in championships with many cars on the circuit, dealing with traffic.

"This has given them confidence, especially with the good results they have all achieved. I'm sure they can take the fight the same as the others."