Auto Bild Race Night 2017
Markus Winkelhock

At the 50th Essen Motor Show, two special-interest magazines recognized Audi Sport. One of the accolades went to Audi Sport campaigner Markus Winkelhock who was presented with the 24-Hour Man of the Year award by Auto Bild Motorsport magazine. The 37-year-old professional race driver won the Nürburgring 24 Hours with Audi for the third time this year and the Spa 24 Hours for the second time. In addition, he mounted the very top of the podium in the Laguna Seca 8 Hours and won the Intercontinental GT Challenge. In all competitions, he shared an Audi R8 LMS with his teammates which Audi Sport customer racing offers as a customer sport race car for the worldwide GT3 category. A second award went to Audi Sport for a high-performance model. The readers of Auto Bild Sportscars selected the Audi RS 3 Sedan as the overall winner in the class of small and compact car production models (combined fuel consumption RS 3 Sedan/RS 3 Sportback: 8.4–8.3 l/100 km, combined CO2 emissions: 192–188 g/km.). Marvin Schwätter, Technical Project Leader for the Audi RS 3, received the accolade on behalf of Audi Sport on the occasion of the Race Night hosted by the publisher. With a 400-hp five-cylinder engine, pioneering efficiency and an even sharper look this model is the first compact Audi sedan to bear the RS label and offers a particularly emotive driving experience.