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Audi challenges Porsche: 'Welcome back!'

ZURICH, Germany - Porsche returns to the Le Mans in 2014 and sister company Audi thought it would give the automaker a special "welcome back" message.

Earlier in 2014, Porsche emphasised its return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the 2014 Geneva auto show. Its chosen race car is its Porsche 919 Hybrid for the LMP1 category of the World Endurance championship in 2014.

VIDEO: Audi - 'Welcome back, Porsche'

The 919 Hybrid will use a petrol V4 and two energy recovery systems. One recovers heat energy from the exhaust, while the other uses a generator to recover kinetic energy. The race car is capable of using converted energy to power the front-wheels.

CLASH OF GERMAN TITANS

To celebrate the impeding clash of German racing titans, Audi posted a hilarious video on YouTube welcoming Porsche back to Le Mans. The video shows Audi's R18 e-tron quattro driving to Porsche's headquarters in Zuffenhausen, Germany.

The R18 e-tron burns some rubber and spins a few doughnuts to leave a very special 'welcome back' etched in tyre tracks.

Porsche has more Le Mans overall victories than any automaker but Audi has dominated the series for more than a decade. Both automakers will however need to keep an eye on Toyota’s TS040 Hybrid which could spoil the race for the Germans.

The 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans starts on June 14.

Take a look at Audi's tongue-in-cheek clip:

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