Treluyer to miss Nurburgring after spinal injury

The Frenchman, who usually shares the #7 Audi R18 e-tron quattro with fellow three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Andre Lotterer and Marcel Fassler, will not be replaced for the German race.

A statement from Audi said that the injury, caused by a fall while training on his mountain bike, "will heal without surgical intervention and have no further consequences."

Head of Audi motorsport Wolfgang Ullrich said: "On behalf of Audi Sport, I wish Benoit a speedy and full recovery so that he’ll be ready to race again in the subsequent event in Mexico."

Audi's decision to run the #7 car with only two drivers is not without precedent at the top level of the WEC, as Toyota drivers Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi completed the latter half of their title-winning campaign in 2014 without a third driver following the departure of Nicolas Lapierre.

While Rene Rast is thought to be on stand-by as a reserve driver for the Audi LMP1 squad, he is also a part of the G-Drive Racing LMP2 team, and would therefore have needed replacing in turn.