NEW AUDIS TO HIT TRACK.(NEWS)

Audi's all-new R15 TDI turbodiesel prototype will debut in the American Le Mans Series 2009 season opener, the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, but Audi has yet to commit to racing in the remainder of the ALMS season.

The R15 and its smaller, lighter diesel engine were designed "from a clean sheet of paper, according to Audi Sport boss Wolfgang Ullrich. However, Audi would not release the engine's exact specification, including displacement and number of cylinders. Ullrich did stress that it was designed to the current Le Mans rule book and not forthcoming regulations that call for smaller-capacity units starting in 2011.

"It was clear to us that we must develop a new car if we wanted to continue to be successful at Le Mans. . . . The step from R10 to R15 will be significantly larger than it was from the R8 to the R10, Ullrich said.

The open-top LMP1 car is scheduled to run for the first time before Christmas and then make its race debut at Sebring in preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. Audi Sport Team Joest will campaign three R15s at the 24 Hours. Sebring and Le Mans are the only two races confirmed for the R15. Ullrich said that Audi will not defend its Le Mans Series titles in Europe.

"We will not participate in the LMS, he said. "We all have to face that the economy is moving, and everyone has to put something into their pocket to save money. We are still in discussion about the American program. There has to be a board decision to do it, but we are all working on it very hard.

Asked whether Audi might run the outgoing R10 after Sebring until the R15s are freed up post-Le Mans, Ullrich said, "Everything is possible. First we need a decision to go or not to go [all season in the ALMS], and then we need to work out the most economical way to do it.

Audi also pulled the wraps off its new R8 LMS, which is aimed at Europe's burgeoning GT3 category. Expect four teams, including three of its DTM teams, to run the V10-powered car in 2009 in what is billed as a development year. True customer deliveries will start next October.