Audi and Porsche are battling it on the race track at this year’s Le Mans Series. Despite being 300 pounds lighter and producing 550 horsepower, Porsche-backed Penske Racing impressively had an eight-race winning streak. Meanwhile, Audi, which boasts 2,040-pound and 700 horsepower, hasn’t won a race since March 31.

“Even before the season, we knew it was going to be hard to beat an LMP2 at some tracks,” says Wolfgang Ullrich, head of Audi Motorsport. “Weight is a big issue. At some tracks it’s just not possible to be as competitive the way the rulebook is written.”

Three temporary street courses are added to ALMS in St. Petersburg, Fla.; Long Beach, Calif.; and Detroit. Another change is that Automobile Club de l’Ouest cut the size of the LMP1 fuel cell by 2.4 gallons, meaning that Audi will make an additional pit stop than LMP2 cars at many tracks.

“I think they made all these changes to the LMP1 car, maybe it’s time they do something with the LMP2,” Audi driver Dindo Capello says. “Increase their weight configuration. They have an advantage at the ALMS tracks with the exception of Sebring, MoSport, Road America and Atlanta. At the rest, we are in a bad situation.”

Audi was successful in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world’s most famous endurance race. Frank Biela, Marco Werner and Emanuele Pirro continued Audi’s victory for the fourth time on the 8.45-mile French circuit. They were also able to put Audi’s diesel-powered R10 on its second consecutive win.

This story is based on the reports of USA Today

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