Sebastien Loeb Racing Switches to Audi

Photo: John Dagys

Sebastien Loeb Racing will switch from McLaren to Audi machinery for 2014, the team confirmed Tuesday.

The French squad, co-owned by the nine-time WRC champion and Dominique Heintz, had campaigned McLaren MP4-12Cs in the FIA GT Series and French GT Championship last year with moderate success but elected to make the switch to the German brand for its to-be-determined GT3 program.

“The choice to enter the Audi R8 LMS ultra is the result of a long thought process,” Heintz said. “Our discussions with Audi were very positive and we were convinced by the Audi R8 LMS ultra’s qualities.

“The car has good performance but also great reliability, as shown by its successes in some of the biggest endurance races such as the 24 Hours of Spa and Nürburgring. We were also attracted to the philosophy behind the car, which can suite both a professional and gentleman driver.

“In addition, Audi Sport runs a renowned customer racing program in all series in which it takes part, not forgetting that they are based closest to our own workshops. That’s a detail that could prove to facilitate our team’s work. We look forward now to the start of this new exciting challenge alongside Audi Sport.”

The team has yet to finalize which GT3 championship(s) they will compete in, although a return to LMP2 in the European Le Mans Series is also under consideration.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John