Audi’s racing arm, Audi Sport, has a hefty crown to defend at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Having taken overall victory 13 times in 15 appearances at the Circuit de la Sarthe  Audi R18 Le Mans

Audi R18 Le Mans  It’s the guiding principle behind the heavily revamped R18 e-tron Quattro racer that was fully unveiled today.

Structurally similar to last year’s racer, Audi’s 2015 competitor sports thoroughly tweaked bodywork for better aerodynamics, lower drag, and increased cooling.Audi R18 Le Mans

Two different body shapes will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship season.Two different body shapes will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship season.

The biggest changes are found in the engine compartment behind the driver and the hybrid energy-recovery system that rides shotgun in the cockpit. The latter has had its output doubled—from 2 megajoules per Le Mans lap to 4—turning braking energy

Audi says the energy-recapture system can send about 17 percent more energy to the front axle than last year’s model.

Per the FIA rulebook, this increase in energy-capture output means the R18 must use 2.5 percent less fuel per lap as compared to the 2014 car.

Audi says the 4.0-liter turbo-diesel V-6, which cranks out 558 horsepower, more than compensates for the decrease in fuel allotment  Audi R18 Le Mans

Another new rule for 2015 limits each competing car to just five engines for the entire race season, so the team better hope that TDI powerplant is stout.Audi R18 Le Mans

The whole shootin’ match weighs in at the racing series’ minimum of just under 1920 pounds.The whole shootin’ match weighs in at the racing series’ minimum of just under 1920 pounds.

For the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the Le Mans 24 Hours, Audi has redesigned their LeMans Prototype race car from scratch and is claimed to have almost nothing in common anymore with its outgoing version.

Powering the 2016 Audi R18 is the revised  V6 TDi engine assisted by a battery-powered hybrid drive system fires out more than 1000 Bhp of power

The power is sent to all four corners by a new transmission kit. Audi Sport engineers switched to a 6-megajoule class hybrid system that is capable of recovering 50% of the energy.

The power is sent to all four corners by a new transmission kit. Audi Sport engineers switched to a 6-megajoule class hybrid system that is capable of recovering 50% of the energy.Audi R18 Le Mans

The car’s aerodynamics concept is stated to be fundamentally new and almost all systems have been refined and reworked.Audi R18 Le Mans

In addition to all of this, a lightweight and energy-efficient camera system in combination with an ultramodern AMOLED screen is plonked in that also serves as a digital rear view mirror.Audi R18 Le Mans