RSS_Auto_Poster
Well-known member
Written by Stephen Dobie
Big news, this: Audi"s World Endurance Championship campaign will come to an end this year. In more basic terms, Audi"s dominating presence at Le Mans is over.Since its entry into top flight sports car racing, Audi hasn"t finished outside of the Le Mans 24-hour podium. It has won 13 of the 18 twice-round-the-clock races it has competed in. It holds the claim of the first team to win with both diesel and hybrid cars, too, and has taken 106 wins and 94 fastest laps from its 185 races.You"d forgive Audi for competing in endurance racing forever with a record like that, but an announcement by chairman Rupert Stadler has confirmed its focus is shifting to the all-electric Formula E series, turning its support of Team ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport into a full works effort."We"re going to contest the race for the future on electric power," Stadler said. "As our production cars are becoming increasingly electric, our motorsport cars, as Audi"s technological spearheads, have to even more so."It chimes with new Audi Sport boss Stephen Winkelmann"s concerns about the attention spans of motorsport viewers. And with an urgency unfamiliar to announcements in the road car world, the switch is almost immediate. The current WEC season will be Audi"s last, its Formula E campaign beginning in 2017.
Date written: 26 Oct 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 5563
Big news, this: Audi"s World Endurance Championship campaign will come to an end this year. In more basic terms, Audi"s dominating presence at Le Mans is over.Since its entry into top flight sports car racing, Audi hasn"t finished outside of the Le Mans 24-hour podium. It has won 13 of the 18 twice-round-the-clock races it has competed in. It holds the claim of the first team to win with both diesel and hybrid cars, too, and has taken 106 wins and 94 fastest laps from its 185 races.You"d forgive Audi for competing in endurance racing forever with a record like that, but an announcement by chairman Rupert Stadler has confirmed its focus is shifting to the all-electric Formula E series, turning its support of Team ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport into a full works effort."We"re going to contest the race for the future on electric power," Stadler said. "As our production cars are becoming increasingly electric, our motorsport cars, as Audi"s technological spearheads, have to even more so."It chimes with new Audi Sport boss Stephen Winkelmann"s concerns about the attention spans of motorsport viewers. And with an urgency unfamiliar to announcements in the road car world, the switch is almost immediate. The current WEC season will be Audi"s last, its Formula E campaign beginning in 2017.
Date written: 26 Oct 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 5563
