Audi will be presenting the new R18 via its own online TV channel today, the first chance to see details of the car that will be running in the World Endurance Championship this season, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The R18 is named after her predecessors, but the 2016 version is a brand new model.

24H Le Mans

Le Mans Series

24 Heures du Mans

FIA WEC

Two up-and-coming British drivers will have a chance to showcase their talent at the 2025 FIA WEC Rookie Test. Ollie Gray will take the wheel of the championship-winning Hypercar while Tom Fleming will climb aboard the Champagne-popping LMGT3. A golden opportunity for the two hopefuls.

Every season, the FIA World Endurance Championship concludes with the Rookie Test &ndash; a tremendous opportunity for promising youngsters to show off their potential at the wheel of the best cars on the international endurance scene. The 2025 edition, held in Bahrain on the day after the final round of the season, will spotlight two rising stars:&nbsp;former Formula racing driver Ollie Gray, now a mainstay of the European Le Mans Series grid, and Tom Fleming, a GT specialist whose career has really taken off.

<h2>Ollie Gray &ndash; from single-seaters to Hypercar</h2>

Twenty-year-old Gray has quickly worked his way up from promotion formulas to the European Le Mans Series. Runner-up in the British F4 Championship in 2022, he has enjoyed a remarkable ELMS season with VDS Panis Racing, winning the Imola and Spa-Francorchamps rounds, before putting in a bright performance on his 24 Hours of Le Mans d&eacute;but.

The young Englishman cannot wait to get behind the wheel of the World Championship-winning Hypercar.&nbsp;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m over-the-moon to be selected for this year&rsquo;s Rookie Test,&rdquo; he enthused. &quot;The opportunity to drive the winning Hypercar is amazing, and it&rsquo;s a step forward in my career as that&rsquo;s where I want to be in the future (...) My long-term objective is to race in the top class in FIA WEC, so hopefully I can show what I&rsquo;m made of in Bahrain and take a step closer to that goal!&rdquo;

<h2>Tom Fleming&rsquo;s rapid rise</h2>

Fleming (23) caught the eye as soon as he began racing, finishing runner-up in the 2023 Ferrari Challenge Europe. He has competed in this season&rsquo;s ELMS, notching up two podiums at the wheel of a Ferrari 296 LMGT3 for GR Racing. A varied campaign comprising the GT World Challenge and the Michelin Le Mans Cup has given Fleming precious experience before this first outing outside Europe.

Bahrain will be a major landmark in his burgeoning career.&nbsp;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m honoured to be selected for the FIA WEC Rookie Test,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp; &ldquo;To be part of such an exclusive and prestigious event is an incredible privilege and an opportunity I&rsquo;m looking forward to making the most of.&nbsp;I&rsquo;ve enjoyed an extremely busy, fruitful and diverse racing programme this year.&nbsp; (...) The Rookie Test will be the cherry on the cake to conclude what has been a successful 2025. Over the years, I&rsquo;ve seen many FIA WEC and Formula One races take place at the [Bahrain] circuit, so it&rsquo;s simply surreal to think I will be heading there myself.&rdquo;

<h2>A platform for the future</h2>

Since it was created in 2015, the FIA WEC Rookie Test has provided a platform for many talented drivers including Julien Andlauer,&nbsp;Norman Nato&nbsp;and Mathieu Jaminet, to take their first crucial steps towards the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Hypercar class. In Gray and Fleming, two new faces will hope to line up alongside them very soon.

<a href="https://fiawec.tv/page/679a56921229db49627128a6" target="_blank">Watch all the action from the FIA World Endurance Championship</a>&nbsp;live or on demand with the FIA WEC TV official app! Don&rsquo;t miss a thing! Check out the app for further information.

Gray and Fleming picked for FIA WEC Bahrain Rookie Test

Alpine climbed back to the summit of the FIA World Championship podium in the series’ milestone 100th race at Fuji Speedway today, as Charles Milesi, Ferdinand Habsburg and Paul-Loup Chatin emerged on top in an epic encounter to claim the French manufacturer’s first victory in more than three years.

The #35 crew began the 6 Hours of Fuji from ninth on the 18-strong Hypercar grid, and initially fell down the field after picking up penalties for contact and a pit-stop infringement. The trio gained a crucial break shortly after the race entered its second half, however, when they benefitted from the fortuitous timing of a safety car intervention.

That elevated Milesi up the order into second, with the Frenchman subsequently settling into a three-way fight for supremacy with Peugeot&rsquo;s Mikkel Jensen &ndash; the #93 9X8 Hypercar the Dane shares with Jean-&Eacute;ric Vergne and Paul di Resta a long-time leader in Japan &ndash; and defending world champion K&eacute;vin Estre in the #6 Porsche.

With an hour remaining, Alpine Endurance Team rolled the dice. As the top three came into the pits to make their final stops, the French manufacturer elected to save time by changing only the left-hand side tyres on the #35 car, whereas Peugeot and Porsche replaced the full set.

That promoted Milesi to the lead, and the Frenchman produced a flawless performance to keep his pursuers comfortably at bay and take the chequered flag 7.682 seconds ahead of Jensen &ndash; to the clear delight of his team-mates and crew.

&ldquo;This means everything,&rdquo; confessed an emotional Habsburg. &ldquo;Holding this trophy has been in my dreams for quite some time. It&rsquo;s the coolest thing to win a race with two of your best friends in the paddock. Charles and Paul-Loup are not only some of the best drivers, but also the best people I know. They have motivated me so much through my own mistakes and moments when I was not doing so well. It&rsquo;s because of them really that we were able to win together as a team.&rdquo;

The result represented Alpine&rsquo;s third overall triumph in FIA WEC, and impressively, the #35 car is the only one in the 2025 Hypercar field not to include a top-level Platinum-graded driver. It also means that for the first time in the championship&rsquo;s history, four different marques have won in succession &ndash; Ferrari at Le Mans, Cadillac in S&atilde;o Paulo, Porsche at COTA and now Alpine at Fuji.

<h2>Corvette claims glory after late drama in LMGT3</h2>

For the second race in a row, VISTA AF Corse took the chequered flag first in the LMGT3 category &ndash; and for the second race in a row, another crew stood atop the rostrum, as TF Sport&rsquo;s #81 Corvette benefitted from a post-race penalty for the Ferrari to usurp the win.

&gt;&gt;&gt; <a href="https://www.fiawec.com/en/page/resultats-1/56" target="_blank">Race result</a> &lt;&lt;&lt;

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Alpine unleashes peak performance at Fuji to win milestone 100th race

The FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) will celebrate a memorable landmark this weekend (26-28 September 2025) at the 6 Hours of Fuji. And the 100th race in the championship’s history could prove to be crucial in the battle for the 2025 title waged by Ferrari, Porsche and Toyota.

The emblematic Japanese racetrack in the shadows of Mount Fuji will stage the penultimate round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season &ndash; a race that has all the makings of a historic event. Although Toyota will be determined to return to winning ways on their home patch, Ferrari are in the box seat to wrap up the world title. But after clinching a win at Lone Star Le Mans, Porsche is not ready to give up the fight just yet.

Since the inaugural FIA WEC season in 2012, the 6 Hours of Fuji has been a mainstay of the championship. The iconic 4.563-km Fuji Speedway is one of the most impressive of all FIA WEC venues with Hypercars topping 330&nbsp;kph on the 1.475-km long straight.

<h2>Toyota looking to bounce back</h2>

Toyota is historically the most successful manufacturer on its own track, with nine wins in eleven years. Confidence in the Japanese camp is, however, at a low ebb. For the first time since it stepped into endurance, it has endured a six-race barren spell without a single podium. It will be looking to the home crowd to spur it to success and prevent Ferrari from inheriting its world crown.&nbsp;&ldquo;After Le Mans, this is our most important race and one where we really want to perform well,&rdquo; said Toyota Gazoo Racing driver and Team Principal Kamui Kobayashi.&nbsp;&ldquo;So far this year, we are struggling but I hope we can achieve something special on our home track because we have been quite strong there in the past. We will perform to our maximum and hopefully our Japanese fans will be able to enjoy an exciting weekend and a great result for Toyota Gazoo Racing.&rdquo;

<h2>Ferrari closing in, Porsche still in the hunt</h2>

Unbeaten in the manufacturers&rsquo; title race for the past six seasons, Toyota sees its domination under threat from Ferrari. The Prancing Horse could well settle matters this weekend provided it withstands the pressure from the revitalised Porsche 963. The trio of Estre, Vanthoor and Campbell offered the German firm its first win of the year in Texas and returns to Japan with strong hopes of repeating last season&rsquo;s performance.&nbsp;&ldquo;We&rsquo;re determined to build on that success and keep closing the gap in the manufacturers&rsquo; standings&rdquo;, said Porsche Motorsport Vice President Thomas Laudenbach.

&ldquo;Three weeks ago at COTA, we were back on the podium with our #50 499P: that result was valuable for our morale as drivers, and for the points we secured for Ferrari,&rdquo; said driver Antonio Fuoco.&nbsp;&ldquo;We approach the 6 Hours of Fuji determined to remain frontrunners, even though we know this Japanese circuit could prove one of the toughest for the 499P, as we have seen in recent years.&rdquo;

Check out the full entry list for the 2025 6 Hours of Fuji <a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/ecm-prod/assets/1/course/4936/2025-fia-wec-6-hours-of-fuji-provisional-entry-list-v2_d1f6d1.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>.

<h2>FIA WEC reaches the 100-race landmark</h2>

The 2025 6 Hours of Fuji will not only be decisive for the title race; it will also be the one hundredth race is FIA WEC history. This symbolic milestone adds further shine to the sporting and historic aura of this eagerly awaited meet.

The race will start at 02:00 UTC on Sunday 28 September.

<a href="https://fiawec.tv/page/679a56921229db49627128a6" target="_blank">Watch all the action from the FIA World Endurance Championship</a>&nbsp;live or on demand with the FIA WEC TV official app! Don&rsquo;t miss a thing! Check out the app for further information.

FIA WEC set to hit century of races at Fuji

The no18 IDEC Sport Oreca won a dramatic Goodyear 4 Hours of Silverstone, Jamie Chadwick, Mathys Jaubert and Daniel Juncadella recording their third win of the season to put them back in contention for the 2025 ELMS title at the season finale in Portimão next month.

With over 110,000 people attending the three day event, the race was incident packed, with heavy rain that brought the race to an end 10-minutes early.

The no17 CLX Motorsport Ligier-Toyota crew of Paul Lanch&egrave;re, Adrien Closmenil and Theodor Jensen secured their fourth win of the season in the tricky conditions to claim the 2025 ELMS LMP3 Team and Driver titles with one race to go next month.

The LMP2 Pro/Am win was claimed by the no20 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca, with Kriton Lentoudis, Olli Caldwell and Alex Quinn standing on the top step of the podium for the second time in a row to extend their championship lead after a great battle in the difficult conditions with the no99 AO by TF and the no83 AF Corse Orecas.

The LMGT3 winners were the no50 Richard Mille by AF Corse Ferrari crew of Custodio Toledo, Riccardo Agostini and Lilou Wadoux. The 4 Hours of Le Castellet winners battled through from tenth place on the LMGT3 grid, with Wadoux facing a determined challenge from the no86 GR Racing Ferrari of Riccardo Pera. Pera had managed to get ahead of the no50 Ferrari when the race was red flagged due to track conditions and the no50 Ferrari was declared the winners due to the fact they were leading the lap before the race was stopped.

<a href="https://www.europeanlemansseries.com/race/4913?session=7756" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;for the provisional result from the Goodyear 4 Hours of Silverstone.

<h2>A decisive final in Portim&atilde;o</h2>

The season finale in Portugal will see the teams go head-to-head to decide who will lift the titles in LMP2, LMP2 Pro/Am and LMGT3. Just seven points split the no48 VDS Panis Racing (81 pts), the no18 IDEC Sport (75pts) and no43 Inter Europol Competition (74pts) for the ELMS LMP2 title in next month&rsquo;s 4 Hours of Portimao.

The no20 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca holds a nine-point advantage on 91 points, with the no99 AO by TF Oreca on 82 points.

The no50 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari leaves Silverstone with a 12 points advantage in the LMGT3 championship standings on 66 points, with the no59 Racing Spirit of L&eacute;man Aston Martin on 54 points, the no82 TF Sport Corvette on 52 points, the no85 Iron Dames Porsche and no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari on 47 points.

The 4 Hours of Portim&atilde;o will take place next month on Saturday 18 October.

Race Highlights | Goodyear 4 Hours of Silverstone 2025 | ELMS

ELMS : les highlights des Goodyear 4 Heures de Silverstone 2025

ELMS : IDEC Sport take dramatic win at Silverstone

It has a diesel engine and a single hybrid system so you would be forgiven for thinking that this R18 is just an update of the 2015 e-tron quattro &mdash; yet this year&rsquo;s design is entirely different. The flywheel energy storage has been replaced by a lithium-ion battery &mdash; just one of the most notable changes. Watch the presentation live online!

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	C&eacute;cile Bonardel / ACO Translated from French by Emma Paulay 
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24H LE MANS

WEC - Live world première of the Audi R18

Related News

Gray and Fleming picked for FIA WEC Bahrain Rookie Test

Alpine unleashes peak performance at Fuji to win milestone 100th race

FIA WEC set to hit century of races at Fuji

ELMS : IDEC Sport take dramatic win at Silverstone

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