Autosport Plus

Audi's next Le Mans stars?

Oliver Jarvis and Marco Bonanomi may be new to the Audi factory team, but they are up for a fight with their rivals – whether outside of Audi or within. Gary Watkins spoke to them before their big chance at Le Mans

Gary Watkins Jun 13, 2012, 12:19 PM

Young guns. It's a handy, even snappy, phrase to plonk in front of the names Oliver Jarvis and Marco Bonanomi, two drivers racing with the Audi factory team at the Le Mans 24 Hours for the first time this weekend. It's not an entirely accurate description given that they are both beyond their mid-20s and sharing a car with a driver, in Mike Rockenfeller, who is less than 18 months older but already a winner of the French enduro.

Yet Jarvis and Bonanomi are, most definitely, part of a new guard within the German manufacturer's sportscar squad. They have been plucked from elsewhere in Audi's motorsport empire and both know they have the chance to become the next Allan McNish or Rinaldo Capello some time down the line.

Share Or Save This Story

Author Gary Watkins

Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 33rd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 80 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.

Gary, who also writes for Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton close to the former workshops of the Cooper Formula 1 team but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.