Audi si posiziona come produttore del segmento premium più sportivo e possiede la base ideale per questo: Motorsport.
Immagine sportiva, innovazione tecnologica e design emozionale sono i componenti principali per il successo del marchio Audi. I geni di questo successo provengono dalle corse – da più di 30 anni.
Audi quattro ha iniziato la storia di un successo
Se si escludono i giorni della leggendaria auto da corsa Auto Union Grand Prix del 1930, la storia AUDI AG nel motorsport è iniziata con la Audi quattro. Le vittorie da dominatori e un paio di campionato costruttori e di titoli piloti con il ‘quattro originale‘ nel World Rally Championship agli inizi degli anni 1980 sono stati fattori importanti per il successo di mercato della trazione quattro.
quattro also successful on track
After Audi had turned rallying on its head at the beginning of the 1980s and stormed the Pikes Peak in record time on three consecutive occasions in the USA with the Sport quattro S1, Audi also made quattro drive ‘fashionable’ on the race track: initially with the Audi 200 quattro and Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO in the USA, and then with two championship titles for the Audi V8 quattro in 1990 and 1991 in the German Touring Car Championship (DTM). And finally also with the A4 in production based Super Touring Cars. In 1996 the Audi A4 quattro won the championships in seven countries. In 2012, the quattro drive returned to the race track with the e-tron quattro.
Audi R8 most successful Le Mans sportscar of the modern era
After the superior quattro drive was banned from touring car racing, Audi moved into sport prototypes and has since gone on to underline its company slogan ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ in this motorsport category as well. In 1999 at its debut in Le Mans, the world’s toughest endurance race, Audi succeeded in securing a place on the winners’ podium first time out. In the years that followed the Audi R8 was in a class of its own. Audi scored a historic hat trick between 2000 and 2002. Also thanks to the TFSI technology which debuted in 2011 and has later been incorporated into production. In 2004 and 2005 customer teams scored another two overall victories at Le Mans for Audi. The R8 secured its place in motorsport history with a total of 63 overall victories in 80 sportscar races.
Successful return to DTM
Audi returned to the DTM as factory team in 2004 and clinched title with Mattias Ekström first time out. The Swede also triumphed in 2007, in 2008 and 2009 Timo Scheider – as a result Audi became the first automobile manufacturer in DTM history to score a hat trick of titles. Martin Tomczyk rounded off the Audi A4 DTM success story in the 2011 season with yet another championship title – the first for a year old car and the fifth in total for the Audi A4 DTM. In 2013, Mike Rockenfeller scored the ninth DTM title for Audi with the Audi RS 5 DTM.
Pioneering achievement with TDI technology
Audi demonstrated pioneering achievement and, at the same time, further proof of ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ with TDI Technology: In 2006, the newly conceived Audi R10 TDI became the first ever diesel powered car to triumph at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. Audi won again in 2007 and 2008 with the R10 TDI. Furthermore, Audi won the American Le Mans Series on three consecutive occasions with the diesel sportscar and in 2008 also the European based Le Mans Series. In 2010 Audi celebrated a one-two-three finish with the R15 TDI in the fastest Le Mans race ever. In 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 Audi TDI Power was successful as well. In 2014 Audi achieved its 13th Le Mans victory from just 16 participations.
First hybrid winner at Le Mans
Audi demonstrated another pioneering achievement with the first victory of a hybrid race car at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2012. The Audi R18 e-tron quattro remained unbeaten in its first three participations at Le Mans (2012, 2013 and 2014). Audi clinched also the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) with the hybrid sports car in 2012 and 2013.
Third element GT racing
In the form of the Audi R8 LMS Audi Sport developed, for the first time, a race car specifically for use in customer sport. The GT3 sports car impressed from the start and celebrated its 100th victory after only two-and-a-half years in August 2011. Over 100 race cars have been delivered to customers. Among numerous championship titles and individual race wins the Audi R8 LMS has achieved overall victories in the 24 Hours at Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps and in the 12 Hours of Bathurst.
