Motorsport is not just fun. But it is also the testing ground for future technologies to be adopted on production cars. And Audi’s commitment of over forty years is a great example of how solutions capable of innovating the cars in the range have been developed on the racing fields.
Audi in motorsport: the ingenious insight of the quattro drive
The history of Audi in motorsport goes back to the Audi quattro model from the 1980s. In 1981, the quattro made its debut on the occasion of the Austrian rally: it was the first four-wheel drive car to line up at the start of the World Rally Championship. From 1982 to 1984, the house with the Four Rings won four titles: two drivers and two constructors in the World Rally Championship.
From 1985 to 1987 Audi also collected victories and records at Pikes Peake (USA), the most famous hillclimb in the world which at the time was still on dirt roads, with the Sport quattro S1, a car characterized by an innovative configuration of the aerodynamic appendages in order to maximize deportation heats even on dirt roads.
Audi in motorsport: from rallies to the track
Subsequently, the Wolfsburg company decides to take to the track, first in the American Trans Am and Imsa Gto series and then in the Dtm, the German Touring Car Championship. In 1990 and 1991 the Audi V8 quattro led to two drivers’ titles.
After the decision to withdraw the quattro drive from Touring car competitions, Audi turned to prototypes. In 1999 the R8 Sport made its debut at Le Mans, the most famous and difficult endurance race in the world, conquering the third place on the podium right from the first attempt.