Audi is positioning itself as the sportiest manufacturer in the premium segment and has a perfect basis for this: motorsport. Sportiness, advanced technology and emotional design are the foundations for the success of the Audi brand. Valuable genes for this come from motor racing.
Entering the premier class of motorsport
Audi is facing what is arguably its biggest challenge in motorsport. From the 2026 season, the brand will be competing in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship with its own works team. Development of the drive unit (“Power Unit”) is in full swing at the Neuburg an der Donau site. Thanks to open competition, Formula 1 serves as a technology driver for both electromobility and sustainable e-fuels. Photo: Showcar with Audi F1 launch livery
Milestones
Success with electric drive concepts
Sustainability does not only play an important role in the premier class of motorsport. The company began electrifying its motorsport program in endurance racing in 2012. With the first victory of a hybrid racing car at the Le Mans 24 Hours, Audi achieved a pioneering feat at the world’s most important endurance race in 2012. The Audi R18 e-tronquattro remained unbeaten three times in a row at Le Mans in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Many other innovations such as the Audi laser light complement the pioneering technical achievements. Drivers and manufacturers titles with the hybrid sports car in the 2012 and 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) complete the Audi sports car era, which ended in 2016. Following the LMP program with the R18 hybrid sports car, Audi was the first German car manufacturer to compete in the all-electric Formula E racing series in the 2017/2018 season. With four victories and a total of eleven podium finishes, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler clinched the team championship after twelve races. Things continued to go electric after that: the brand with the four rings competed in the famous Dakar Rally from 2022 with an innovative prototype.
40 years of pioneering spirit As the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “The only constant in life is change,” and that is also true for Audi Sport GmbH. There has always been, and always will be, transformation: quattro GmbH was founded in 1983 to secure the quattro name and marketing rights. What began in the mid-1980s with high-quality accessories and sports gear went on to become a success story. At the 1995 International Motor Show, quattro GmbH presented the first customized Audi models, including the Audi A8 and the Audi Cabriolet. The following year, quattro GmbH was officially registered as a car manufacturer – the first in-house model was the Audi S6 plus. Today, the initial handful of people has grown into a team of around 1,200 dedicated employees. In 2020, series production, vehicle customization, Audi exclusive, and all Audi motorsport activities were brought together under Audi Sport GmbH. The Audi Sport GmbH recipe for success is its team that is always daring to try new things while still remaining true to its intrinsic character. Going forward, the sporty Audi subsidiary is pursuing a clear and systematic electrification strategy. The vision is to set standards in the high-performance customer experience and electrification sector – and thus ensure the future of the brand with the four rings’ sporty DNA.
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03/18/2025
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The Audi Sport family is mourning the loss of Dieter Basche: the former Head of Audi Motorsport has died at the age of 88. Basche was an engineer at Audi Sport from the very beginning. Iconic rally and racing cars such as the Audi Sport quattro S1, the Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO and the Audi V8 quattro for the DTM bear his signature. Basche remained closely associated with the brand with the four rings even after his retirement. “Audi owes many victories and championship titles to Dieter Basche. He was a brilliant technician, but above all a great person and extremely popular at the Audi Sport alumni reunions,” said Rolf Michl, Managing Director of Audi Sport GmbH. “Audi was in his heart. We will miss him.”
Most versatile motorsport driver says goodbye to Audi Exceptional career with the four rings with successes in DTM, GT3, Rallycross and Dakar
23 years ago, Mattias Ekström competed in the DTM as an Audi factory driver for the first time. Now he is finally saying “Adjö” to the four rings in his native Swedish. The exceptional sportsman, who always stood by his opinions and was therefore also able to polarize, was a first-class ambassador for Audi: two-time DTM champion, rallycross world champion, Spa 24 Hour race winner, Dakar stage winner and conqueror of the legendary Streif downhill ski run – uphill in an all-electric Audi e-tron technology demonstrator.
Emotions, memories and lots of autographs: This was Mattias Ekström’s farewell to Audi in Ingolstadt on September 26 – the brand with which he celebrated the greatest successes in his outstanding motorsport career. Many motorsport fans from the Audi workforce and Rolf Michl, Managing Director of Audi Sport GmbH, attended the farewell on the factory premises. “We owe Mattias an immense amount, and in turn we have helped him to the greatest successes of his career,” said Michl, who led the brand’s Dakar program to success this year as Head of Motorsport. “To this day, I am impressed not only by his continuous performance but also by his excellent team spirit. Mattias has never concentrated solely on racing. He has always helped to drive projects forward, support our developers and promote the teams he has worked with. With these qualities and his series of successes, he is a great role model for many international talents in motorsport. We wish him all the best for his future career.” Ekström was not even an Audi factory driver when he won his first title with Audi in his native Sweden in 1999 at the age of 21 – as a private driver in the A4 quattro in the Swedish Touring Car Championship. Two years later, Ekström had a contract with Audi and contested his first season in the DTM.
Sporty, dynamic design: expressive front and eye-catching diffuser, carbon details, RS bucket seats, and flat-top and flat-bottom steering wheel Enhanced vehicle dynamics: new standard tires and more precise tuning of chassis control systems for optimized cornering Fastest in its class: lap record on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife in 7:33.123 minutes
Audi Sport has heightened the senses of the RS 3. With the upgrade, the compact top model, which represents maximum performance, will become even sportier. This is visible at first glance: The strong lines at the front, the wheels in motorsport design, and the RS bucket seats visually enhance the dynamics, acoustically underscored by the deep-throated roar of the five-cylinder engine with its signature firing sequence. The 2.5 TFSI, combined with the optimized chassis setup and new tires, propels the RS 3 around corners even more spirited. The new lap record on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife confirms this.
Experience history through vehicles from Audi’s historical collection, lectures at the Audi museum mobile, and events around the world From Aspen to Zwickau: Audi Tradition presents automotive treasures
Audi Tradition is poised to participate in over a dozen international events in 2024 as the classic car season begins. Mainstays of the event calendar include the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England (July 11–14), two classic car rallies at Audi’s home sites – the Donau Classic (June 27–29) in and around Ingolstadt and the Heidelberg Historic (July 11–13) in Neckarsulm – as well as the Sachsen Classic in Dresden and Zwickau (August 15–17). For 2024, the Audi museum mobile, as always, has a varied program in store. In addition to special exhibitions on the history of aerodynamics, the museum of the brand with the four rings will continue its series of lectures and again take part in International Museum Day (May 19) and the Night of the Museums (September 7).
For Audi Tradition, the 2024 event season kicks off early this winter: The Ice Race in late January in Zell am See, Austria, will be followed by the Bremen Classic Motorshow (February 2–4), where Audi Tradition will showcase a first-generation Audi RS 4 Avant at a joint booth with the Volkswagen Group brands. Visitors can head there for advice on spare parts for their classic cars. One weekend after the trade fair, Audi Tradition will be on the road in the Rockies and the Alps: An Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO and Michèle Mouton’s 1985 Audi Sport quattro S1 Pikes Peak will represent Audi Tradition at the Aspen Ice Race (February 8–10). The historic Histo-Monte winter rally will take place simultaneously, taking participants on the trail of the legendary Monte Carlo Rally. At the event, Walter Röhrl will pilot the Audi Sport quattro S1 E2, the original rally car he drove in the 1986 Monte Carlo Rally.
1994 30 Years Audi 80 Competition ...............................29 1989 35 Years Audi 90 IMSA-GTO ..................................30 1984 40 Years Double championship win for Stig Blomqvist and Audi .......................................31 May 1984 40 Years Audi Sport quattro S1 .............................32 January 1984 40 Years Walter Röhrl joins Audi ...........................33 1984 40 Years Harald Demuth German rally champion in Audiquattro ....................................................35 1984 40 Years Audi at Pikes Peak ...................................36 November 1954 70 Years Top-three finish in the European Touring Car Championship for DKW ........37 July 1954 70 Years Werner Haas World Champion on NSU Rennmax .................................................38 September 1939 85 Years Final grand prix victory ............................39 August 1939 85 Years Wanderer class victory in the Liège–Rome–Liège Rally .......................................40 August 1934 90 Years Six Days Trial in Garmisch-Partenkirchen ....................................41 March 1934 90 Years Auto Union grand prix racing car ..............42 Audi Tradition 5 Anniversary Dates 2024 Years 25 Audi S3 The compact three-door Audi A3 that was unveiled in autumn 1996 was based on the platform of the VW Golf IV, which hit the market one year later.