Conventional wisdom said that diesels were slow and smoky. No one at Dow Automotive or Audi believes that. On Saturday, the team of Audi Sport North America -- Marco Werner, Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela -- drove the latest Audi R10 TDI to victory at the 55^th annual 12 Hours of Sebring.

This is the second consecutive year that an Audi diesel-powered sports car has won the classic American endurance race. Among the key components on the car was a Dow Automotive diesel particulate filter (DPF) that allowed the winning car to achieve emissions levels which only a few years ago were thought to be almost impossible.

“The 2006 win was fantastic, but this repeat victory demonstrates that modern clean diesels are amazing performance machines,” said George Hamilton, President of Dow Automotive. “We believe that the development of this technology is an important contribution to the advancement of motor sports and all diesel vehicles. We are very pleased to have the opportunity to race with Audi again this year and are proud to prove the success of our innovative solutions, like the diesel particulate filters, in the most challenging environments.”

“We are proud to win Sebring another time,” said Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Sport. “The updated engine, featuring among other things more compact diesel particulate filters from Dow Automotive, worked perfectly during our Le Mans dress rehearsal.”
The Audi R10 TDI proves that clean diesel engines can also be successful, and Dow Automotive’s DPF technology plays a critical role in achieving this. Lightweight, compact and contributing to lower overall vehicle mass, Dow Automotive’s DPF technology is designed to meet specific Audi performance requirements. For the 2007 season, the filters are even smaller and lighter than the previous year. They produce very low back pressure enabling optimum engine power, torque performance and fuel efficiency while dramatically reducing particulate emissions. These benefits are magnified under race conditions, when the DPFs perform at extremely high operating temperatures, mass flows and ramp rates.

The technology behind the filters was developed in Dow Automotive’s research laboratories from a desire to enable customers to meet increasingly stringent global diesel emission regulations for both light- and heavy-duty diesel engines.

About Dow Automotive
Dow Automotive is a leading global provider of technology-driven solutions that meet consumer demands for vehicles that are safer, stronger, quieter, lighter, cleaner, more comfortable and stylish. The organization provides plastics, adhesives, glass bonding systems, sealants, emissions control technology, films, fluids and structural enhancement and acoustical management solutions to OEM, tier and aftermarket customers around the world. For additional information about Dow Automotive products, services, and application development centers, visit www.dowautomotive.com.

About Audi Sport
Since Audi revolutionized rally sport at the beginning of the 1980s with the quattro drive, Audi AG underlines that the company slogan “Vorsprung durch Technik” is to be taken literally with their exceptional motorsport successes. Audi AG positions itself as the sportiest manufacturer in the premium-class segment, underlining this with a particularly extensive and ambitious motorsport commitment: Audi is the first automotive manufacturer to win in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans with a diesel engine. Parallel to the involvement in Le Mans and the ALMS a total of 10 Audi A4 DTM cars raced the DTM, one of the most popular racing series alongside Formula 1.