Art and motorsport at Audi museum mobile
A view of racing from a different perspective will be offered by the Audi museum mobile from September 23, 2015 to February 28, 2016. The exhibition titled ‘Pit Stop – The Art of Motorsport’ will present 22 works of the artist Stephan Quenkert from Landshut, Germany. His ‘Concrete Art’ objects refer to photographs from racing, but reduce their forms and contents, while featuring concentrated colors. In addition to the three-dimensional wall sculptures, the exhibition attracts visitors with a display of real-world race cars. Fans can look forward to seeing a 1939 Auto Union Type D, a 2001 Audi R8, a 2012 R18 e-tron quattro, a 2011-generation A4 DTM and a 2009 R8 LMS.
Tom Kristensen on the road for Audi in Denmark
The nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen is on a tour of Denmark for Audi. In Copenhagen, the Dane presented the new Audi R8 V10 plus in the presence of singer Pernille Rosendahl and three-time rowing Olympic gold medalist and world champion Eskild Ebbesen. In October, Kristensen is traveling to eight events across the country attended by a total of 1,000 invited guests in order to introduce the new Audi A4.
Mattias Ekström on the world’s steepest road
Audi driver Mattias Ekström went to the limits of physics. In the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the Swede tried out the capabilities of the new Audi A4 quattro. Partner Red Bull prepared Canton Avenue in Pittsburgh with snow, slush and gravel. With a 37-percent grade, it is the world’s steepest residential street. On the slippery surface, Ekström easily chauffeured free skier Bene Mayr, snowboarder Heikki Sorsa and downhill mountain biker Aaron Gwin uphill, thanks to quattro drive. Subsequently, all four aces went downhill again using the sports equipment of their choice. Video footage of this stunt at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH7hqFMxsTw
A word from ... René Rast
The Audi factory driver about his surprising DTM debut at Zandvoort, standing in for the injured Adrien Tambay. When did you find out about your DTM debut? On Saturday night, I was still celebrating my girlfriend’s 30th birthday. About nine, nine thirty, I received a call asking me if I felt like driving DTM. Obviously, I immediately accepted. Right after the call, I took off. Fortunately, I still had my helmet in the trunk of my car. Then we arrived at the hotel at about two or three in the morning. What was your schedule on the day of the race? My alarm clock was set for 5.45 a.m. I didn’t know the car yet. Previously, I’d only driven the Audi A4 DTM. That’s why I had to receive initial instructions – what button serves what purpose and the starting procedure used in the DTM. In addition, we made some seat adjustments. Then, when I was about to go out for the first time, I couldn’t even find first gear. Everything was happening so fast. But then the free practice session worked out after all. What’s your assessment of your debut? Little sleep, plenty of action and a long day with many new impressions. I learned a lot in terms of driving and technology. After only 30 minutes of free practice, it was difficult to immediately go into qualifying. But then, in the second half of the race, the penny dropped and I knew how to move the car. The times kept getting better toward the end and in the second sector, I was the fastest Audi. If I drove a DTM race again now the result might be different. What’s next on your agenda? Next weekend I’ll be competing in the WEC at the Nürburgring and a week later in the Spa 24 Hours.
Excursion into the past
On the Knockhill race track in the United Kingdom, the long-standing Audi driver returned to the cockpit of an Audi A4 quattro. The German won the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) in the super touring car two decades ago and in July 1996 celebrated a victory at Knockhill as well. In front of an enthusiastic audience, Biela did some demo laps in the near-300-hp race car. In addition, selected guests had the opportunity to sit in the passenger’s seat of an Audi R8, enjoying some fast laps alongside the five-time Le Mans winner.
“Rocky” rocks Hamburg
Mike Rockenfeller and the Audi RS 5 DTM were among the main acts of the 16th “Stadtpark Revival” that attracted around 30,000 car and motorcycle fans to Hamburg’s City Nord district. “It was great to see how the current DTM car caught the interest of the spectators although we were guests at a classic vehicle event,” said Mike Rockenfeller who also did some demo laps in the RS 5 DTM with an output of more than 500 hp. In addition, “Rocky” had the opportunity to pilot the Audi V8 quattro in which Hans-Joachim Stuck had won the DTM in 1990: “What an experience!” Frank Biela, the 1991 DTM Champion and five-time Le Mans winner was in action for Audi Tradition in Hamburg as well: He piloted the Audi A4 quattro in which he had won the 1996 British Touring Car Championship (BTCC).
Four Audi R8 LMS in FIA GT World Cup
Audi Sport customer racing will be represented in the FIA GT World Cup from November 15 to 18 with four Audi R8 LMS cars. German Audi Sport driver Christopher Haase will contest the race for Audi Sport Team Rutronik. Audi Sport Team WRT Speedstar relies on Audi factory driver Robin Frijns from the Netherlands and Audi Sport driver Dries Vanthoor from Belgium. On making his impressive track debut last year with a runner-up finish, Frijns missed victory by only 0.618 seconds. Adderly Fong from Hong Kong takes on the challenge in an Audi R8 LMS of Team Zun Motorsport Crew. Audi has previously won the touring car classification of the tradition-steeped city street race with the A4 quattro in 1996 and 1999 and decided the GT class in its favor with the Audi R8 LMS on four occasions since 2011. Since 2015, the competition has had the status of the FIA GT World Cup.