Lotterer and Vanthoor at Motor Show in Brussels
Audi factory driver André Lotterer and GT Sport driver Laurens Vanthoor visited the 93rd Motor Show in Brussels. Both signed plenty of autographs and subsequently attended the opening gala of the Dream Car exhibition. One of the cars showcased at the exhibition was the Audi R18 e-tron quattro in which Lotterer, together with Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer, celebrated his third victory in the 24-hour race at Le Mans last year.
René Rast at the FIA WEC press conference in Brussels
One week before the Spa 6 Hours, René Rast attended a press conference of the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC in Brussels. The German racing driver is the latest addition to Audi’s LMP driver line-up and will contest his first race with the Audi R18 e-tron quattro at Spa during the first weekend of May. In the Brussels Autoworld museum, the 29 year-old professional driver answered the questions of the journalists who he met full of anticipation prior to his debut in the hybrid sports car.
Endurance racers visit Audi Brussels
The officials and race drivers from two Audi motorsport programs presented themselves at Audi Brussels on Tuesday. Audi Head of Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, Chris Reinke, Head of LMP at Audi Sport, Romolo Liebchen, Head of Audi Sport customer racing, the three WEC drivers Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer, plus Edward Sandström and Laurens Vanthoor, the winners of the Nürburgring 24 Hours, were at the event. The employees collected autographs and had their picture taken with the Audi R8 LMS and R18 e-tron quattro race cars. A tour of the factory halls provided the racers with new insights. In an entertaining interview session in the evening, the officials provided their personal assessments of current events in motorsport.
A word from ... André Lotterer
The Audi driver attended appointments in Brussels and Hungary and is already looking forward to the 24 Hours of Spa. Even though the next FIA WEC race is only on the agenda in August, your calendar is full. What have you been up to this week? On Tuesday I was at the Audi factory in Brussels in my homeland Belgium. I visited the production facilities with my team mates Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer and Audi Sport employees and saw how the Audi A1 is manufactured. There was an autograph session for the employees, and in the evening a round table that Dr. Ullrich also attended. It’s always great to feel the support given by the employees and to offer them fun and excitement through our motorsport program. Motorsport really has an established place in Audi culture. At the weekend you were in Hungary. What was on the agenda? I was at the Red Bull Air Race with Benoît Tréluyer. This sport is completely crazy! Aerobatics with turning loops over the Danube: this is pure acrobatics. I was even allowed to see what it’s like in such a cockpit. Similar to our taxi rides in motorsport, there are also taxi flights at the Red Bull Air Races. It’s incredible what the pilots do. And the centrifugal forces are even higher than they are in our racecar. This was an experience that I will never ever forget. Before returning to the cockpit of your Audi R18 e-tron quattro, you drive in another race for Audi. The 24 Hours of Spa on July 25-26 are in your calendar. Is your sense of anticipation growing? It will certainly be fantastic to drive there in the new Audi R8 LMS. I’ll be racing for Audi Sport Team Phoenix and share the car with Marcel Fässler and Mike Rockenfeller. The 24 Hours of Spa means a lot to me: the wonderful track, the world’s biggest GT3 grid, my personal relationship to the country in which I grew up, and the huge community of fans. We want to win, but we also know just how difficult this will be bearing in mind the competition.
Motorsport flair on Family Day
Motorsport flair on the Family Day held at Audi’s plant in Brussels: In addition to information and adventure projects of the various departments, the more than 8,000 visitors got to see demonstrations by the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT. The crew of the Audi customer team that won the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in 2015 demonstrated a pit stop on the Audi R8 LMS ultra.
Laurens Vanthoor at Motor Show in Brussels
Audi welcomed the visitors of the European Motor Show in Brussels with genuine racing flair. Laurens Vanthoor, winner of the Sepang 12 Hours in December and the Dubai 24 Hours in January, signed posters for the Belgian racing fans in his home country and enjoyed being in touch with the fans. In just a week from now, he is aiming to win his third endurance race within the space of just three months – the Bathurst 12 Hour.
André Lotterer promotes round two of the season in Brussels
André Lotterer represented Audi at a dinner in Belgium’s capital Brussels to get the journalists in the mood for the next world championship round. Lotterer, together with his teammates, Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer, is returning as last year’s winner to Spa where round two of the season will be held on May 7.
Ekström congratulates Audi Belgium on anniversary during plant visit
Before round four of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Mettet Mattias Ekström took a quick side trip to the Audi plant in Brussels some 100 kilometers away from the venue. There were several reasons for the reigning rallycross world champion’s visit. One was that his Audi S1 EKS RX quattro saw the light of day in the Belgian capital and another one was that the first Audi A1 left the assembly line at this plant exactly seven years ago. As a token of its appreciation for the visit, Audi Belgium provided Ekström with an Audi S1 for the rallycross weekend at Mettet which the 38-year-old personally drove from the plant to the Circuit Jules Tacheny. However, in the battle for his fourth consecutive victory this weekend, the 560-HP rallycross version of the small sporty car will be the Audi factory driver’s preferred choice again. Video