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She holds, at 136 kph, the speed record on skis on a ski-jump. And since the start of the year, her “office” is a powerful 460-hp Audi A4 DTM. Vanina Ickx does things that many men only dream of – and, bearing in mind her delicate figure of 1.55 metres in height and just over 50 kilograms in weight, things that you can hardly believe possible at first glance. “I’m amazed at just how courageous I’ve become,” says the Audi factory driver. “As a child I was actually very cautious and afraid of practically everything.” At that time, she didn’t even waste a single thought on becoming a racing driver. As daughter of the former Formula 1 driver and six-time Le Mans winner, Jacky Ickx, it appears only natural for Vanina Ickx to follow in her successful father’s footsteps today. However, her motorsport career began at the ‘old’ age of 21 – and only really by accident: “I jumped in at the last minute for somebody, who couldn’t make it, for a one-make cup race. This is how I got the taste.” Prior to this, the great passion of the young Belgian, whose charm and charisma virtually no one can resist in the DTM paddock, was show jumping. “I spent every spare minute with my horse,” she remembers. “After school I went riding or trained for tournaments that were held on weekends or during the holidays.” Her favourite subject at school was Biology – and she also followed this route during her studies. The budding Biologist wrote her thesis about genetics and embryology. “I love nature, plants, trees, animals, birds and insects,” explains the DTM driver with sparkling eyes. “In my opinion it is much more interesting to know how nature functions and how everything works than to study economics for example.” If she had not become a racing driver Vanina Ickx would probably work as a scientist. “But not in a laboratory,” she stresses. “I hated it during my thesis. I think I would have ended up somewhere in the nature, studying insects for example.”

Rallycross stars Foust and Heikkinen to battle at Hockenheim Former ski jumper Hannawald looks forward to guest start Strong partners support premiere Audi Sport TT Cup season For the opening of the Audi Sport TT Cup at Hockenheim on the first May weekend, two rallycross stars will battle for bragging rights: Guest starters Tanner Foust (USA) and Toomas Heikkinen (FIN) pit themselves against the permanent competitors. Ski jump Olympic gold medalist and World Champion Sven Hannawald also joins the grid. The two races at the Hockenheimring on Saturday and Sunday should provide the fans with exciting wheel-to-wheel action. In addition to the 18 international talents, who fight for championship points, the six guest drivers should also spice up the action. “We want to offer the motorsport fans at each of the six Audi Sport TT Cup events fascinating battles between drivers from a specific métier,” says Rolf Michl, Project Leader Audi Sport TT Cup. “For the Hockenheimring we were successful. I expect to see Tanner Foust and Toomas Heikkinen make some incredible overtaking maneuvers.” Foust is a superstar in the USA. The triple gold medal winner in the X-Games currently drives in the Global Rallycross Championship (GRC) and moderates the motorsport magazine program Top Gear. In Europe, the 41-year old participates in selected rounds of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, including a world championship round at the Hockenheimring. Where he meets his adversary Heikkinen. The 24-year old Finn was World Rallycross Championship runner-up in 2014. “I’m looking forward enormously to racing again on a circuit,” says Heikkinen, who last competed on a permanent race track in Formula Renault in 2009. Another celebrity – former ski jumper Sven Hannawald – also joins the grid at Hockenheim. The VW brand ambassador is an enthusiastic amateur racing driver who started in motorsport about ten years ago. “Racing has always been very appealing to me,” says Hannawald.

Audi supports two mountain bikers and a snowboarder Sporty Audi models for German athletes Audi Nines presented by Falken mid-April at Sölden (Austria) The Audi Nines presented by Falken and the Audi Nines MTB showcase the greatest talents on snowboards, skis and mountain bikes every year. With Erik Fedko, Lukas Knopf and Leilani Ettel, three of the elite athletes of the event series are now official Audi brand ambassadors. The athletes were handed the keys to their new company cars at Ingolstadt. They are some of the most promising rising talents of their disciplines and have already notched up their first impressive successes at competitions all over the world: the mountain bikers Erik Fedko (21) and Lukas Knopf (23) as well as snowboarder Leilani Ettel (18) have demonstrated some spectacular tricks and jumps on the slopes and mountain bike trails. As “Friends of Audi”, the young Germans receive an Audi for two years: Fedko now drives an Audi S4 Avant (consumption combined in l/100 km: 7.6–7.5; CO₂ emissions combined in g/km: 175–171), with Knopf in an Audi Q3 Sportback (consumption combined in l/100 km: 7.7–4.7; CO₂ emissions combined in g/km: 174–123) and Ettel in an Audi Q2 (consumption combined in l/100 km: 6.6–4.4; CO₂ emissions combined in g/km: 150–115). The professional athletes were handed the keys to their new vehicles by Hubert Link, Head of Marketing Germany at AUDI AG. “For several years now, the Audi Nines have been an important platform for us to captivate a young and progressive target group for Audi. I’m very pleased that we can now support three young athletes as ambassadors of our brand in their next career steps and I wish them every success,” says Link. During the Audi Nines, Ettel, Fedko and Knopf will be involved in the event activities as “Friends of Audi.” Snowboarder Leilani Ettel will compete in the third Audi Nines presented by Falken (13 to 18 April in Sölden) flying the Audi logo on her board.

She parachutes, was the first woman to cross the English Channel in an Ultra-Light plane and holds, at 136 kph, the speed record on skis down a ski jump. A new team also joins Vanina Ickx in the DTM: Dr Colin Kolles, Managing Director of the Midland Formula 1 squad, has acquired two 2004 Audi A4 DTM and enters these as an Audi customer team. The level of potential in the “used” cars was clearly demonstrated last year by Audi Sport Team Joest: Christian Abt was second at the Norisring and finished the season as best driver of a year old car in ninth position overall. The second cockpit in Dr Kolles’ team, located in Greding only a few kilometres north of Ingolstadt, is still available.

The Spaniard retired on Saturday’s race, whilst on Sunday he could only reach seventh after a jump start. The South African national anthem played out twice on the podium in Styria. Keagan Masters became the first rookie to win this season, and he managed to do it twice in a row. The 17-year-old junior driver converted second on the grid to a victory on Saturday, and on Sunday he prevailed from pole. The South African therefore managed to break the dominance of two drivers: Up to this point, Philip Ellis and Mikel Azcona had shared all of the victories. Mikel Azcona came to Austria as the table leader, but after two crucial mistakes he paid dearly. On Saturday, whilst dueling with his title rival Philip Ellis, he damaged his radiator and consequently had to retire his car to the pit lane. Meanwhile, Ellis occupied second place and thus took over the table lead on Saturday, which he had held since the beginning of the season up until the previous race weekend at the Nürburgring. On Sunday, Azcona received a drive through penalty for a jump start. From the back, he managed to fight his way through to seventh place. With just the finale to go, he now sits in second in the Cup rankings, 24 points behind Ellis. 50 points are still up for grabs in Hockenheim. Milan Dontje celebrated his best race weekend of the year. The 22-year-old Dutchman reached third place on Saturday and second place on Sunday. He followed Keagan Masters like a shadow and in the end he was beaten by just 0.64 seconds. Tommaso Mosca from Italy consolidated his position at the top of the rookie rankings at the Red Bull Ring. He remains the best newcomer and third in the overall rankings after two fourth-place finishes. Behind him in the rookie rankings follows Keagan Masters and Yannik Brandt with 130 points each. The local ski stars Max Franz and Benni Raich received a great reception. The two guest drivers wrote countless autographs and delivered some thrilling duels on the track.

The reigning DTM Champion from Sweden Jet-skis and two dogs are his big love Partner Tina Thörner is a successful Rally co-driver Even if Mattias Ekström, at 27-years of age, still numbers among the youngsters in the DTM, the defending champion knows one thing all to well: “It is more difficult to defend a title than to win one for the first time.” The Swede is finding out every race weekend just how hard that is in arguably the most exciting DTM season ever: Gaps of a thousandth of second in qualifying are followed by equally close races on Sunday. Only a few points separate the title rivals, the lead changes constantly. Ekström’s victory last year was, in contrast, almost like a summer stroll: In Brno, at the penultimate race of the season, Ekström relieved record champion Bernd Schneider of the crown, and presented Audi with the championship during its comeback year as a “works” team in the DTM. Mattias Ekström competes under the sign of the Four Rings since the 2001 season – initially for the Audi “customer” Abt Sportsline team and since last year, as official “works” driver at Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline. Much has changed within his immediate environment since his first laps in the DTM – but not the blond haired driver from the almost idyllic village of Krylbo in the middle of Sweden. His father Bengt and mother Agneta still travel to almost every race, to cook for their son in the mobile home and to give him a piece of home. Porridge is served for breakfast – almost out-of-place for such a cool image. Ekström’s explanation is simple: “It’s just perfect and gives me a huge amount of energy – even if many others find it amusing.” Without trying, the 1999 Swedish Touring Car Champion, who started his career in karts and made the jump into “big” touring cars directly from a one-make cup, refuses to be pigeonholed in the typical race driver cliché. A sportscar? Partying till dawn? An apartment in the Monegasque tax haven?

Ski jump legend Sven Hannawald is part of the Audi motorsport family that combines various series this weekend. The 40-year-old is involved in the on-track action during the world premiere of the Audi Sport TT Cup. “This is a great opportunity to get rid of some bottled-up adrenaline,” says Hannawald, looking forward to the two races. “The racing version of the TT is perfect for an outing following a longer break from racing. I could even imagine taking up a larger commitment in the cup.” But the former Olympic gold medalist and world champion would not be opposed to a stint in the Audi S1 EKS RX quattro of rallycross racer Edward Sandström either. “I’ve never driven a car like this but if Edward invited me to try it, I wouldn’t say no.” DTM star Timo Scheider already had this unique experience last winter. “It was sensational fun,” he says. Edward Sandström can only confirm this. At Hockenheim, the Swede takes over driving duties in the Audi S1 EKS RX quattro of Mattias Ekström, who is fully concentrating on the DTM season opener this weekend. “The chance to present ourselves to such a large motorsport audience at Hockenheim is a fantastic opportunity for the World Rallycross Championship to win new fans,” says Edward. “We’re going to give our all to deliver a tremendous show.” Sandström is the only driver in the paddock to be involved in all three series: as a racer in the World Rallycross Championship, as a driver of one of the two Audi RS 5 DTM race taxis in the DTM and as coach of his Swedish compatriot Anton Marklund in the Audi Sport TT Cup. - End -

Alpine Ski world champion, aristocracy, footballers and motorcycle racing drivers: celebrities with motorsport in their blood have enriched the Audi Sport TT Cup grid since 2015. In 2017, up to four guest starters will compete in the Audi Sport TT Cup again, including celebrities from different fields. Possession of a valid international Grade D racing license issued by Deutscher Motor Sport Bund (DMSB) or a comparable license from another Autorité Sportive Nationale (ASN) is a prerequisite for entry as a guest driver. The successful participation in a qualification event conducted by Audi Sport via the Audi driving experience or special license training is mandatory. Selection of the previous guest entrants in the Audi Sport TT Cup Tayfun Baydar (D), actor Frank Biela (D), five-time Le Mans winner Pierre Casiraghi (MC), aristocrat Chaz Davies (GB), motorcycle racing Tanner Foust (USA), automobile racing Xavi Forés (E), motorcycle racing Rahel Frey (CH), automobile racer in DTM and GT racing Peter Fill (I), alpine skiing Sven Hannawald (D), ski jumping Michael Henke (D), football Marcel Hirscher (A), alpine skiing Benedikt Mayr (D), freestyle skiing Heinz Müller (D), football Felix Neureuther (D), alpine skiing Jon Olsson (S), freestyle skiing Prinz Bernhard van Oranje (NL), aristocrat René Rast (D), automobile racer in DTM and GT racing Aksel Lund Svindal (N), alpine skiing Adrien Théaux (F), alpine skiing Albert von Thurn und Taxis (D), aristocrat