Motorsport has always been the best way for manufacturers to try innovative and extreme solutions and then pass the technology onto their production cars and make them increasingly safe, high-performance and attractive on the automotive market. Audi is certainly no exception and it is no coincidence that in the last fifteen years it has worked hard with hybrid and electrified technologies, bringing home successes of enormous value.
Rally: Audi quattro innovates and wins
Before the advent of electrification in motorsport, Audi made headlines with the fabulous Audi quattro. The debut occurred in 1981 at the Janner Rallye, in Austria, with the first 4-wheel drive car in rallies. After the year of preparation, from 1982 to 1984 the House of the 4 rings racked up successes, winning 4 world titles, 2 Drivers' titles with Hannu Mikkola in 1983 and Stig Blomqvist the following year and 2 Manufacturers' titles in the World Rally Championship.
At that point the WRC was conquered, but rallying still had something to give Audi. From 1985 to 1987 he managed to win and set a record at Pikes Peak in the United States, the most famous climb in the world. He did it 3 consecutive times with the Sport quattro S1 and an innovative configuration of the aerodynamic appendages to maximize downforce values ​​even on dirt roads.
Endurance: the amazing epic at Le Mans
Rally, of course, but not only. Because in the two-year period 1990-1991 Audi also managed to bring home the titles of the DTM, the German tourism championship. It was an interlude to arrive at the creation of some of the most famous and successful prototypes of the modern era, those for the World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Audi debuted in 1999 with the R8 Sport at Le Mans, immediately finishing on the podium at the first attempt. From the following year, however, it was a real domination thanks to three victories in a row at the Sarthe thanks also to the TFSI technology – turbo direct petrol injection – used for the first time in 2001 and subsequently introduced into series production. 63 victories in 80 races was the incredible score of the car which rightfully earned a place in the history of motorsport.
The WEC was always an extraordinary platform for Audi to try new things. Just think of the introduction of diesel technology at Le Mans. Audi has been racing with that type of propulsion since 2006 with the R10 TDi, immediately winning the Sarthe. With the diesel engine, Audi won 8 times at Le Mans.
In 2010 Audi also had the satisfaction of celebrating a sensational hat-trick in the fastest 24 Hours of Le Mans of all time, setting a new distance record. Audi also managed to win at Le Mans from 2011 to 2014, the year in which the company celebrated its 13th victory in 16 editions. From a technical point of view, there have been many innovations, primarily the Audi laser light. The laser high beams, with extraordinary range, debuted at Le Mans in 2014 with the Audi R18 TDI and are now available for multiple models of the four mid-range and upper range rings.
WEC and Formula E the e-tron era begins
At the beginning of the past decade, hybrid propulsion began to appear in motorsport, but also in the automotive sector. In the WEC Audi debuted the R18 e-tron quattro and remained unbeaten for 3 years in a row, from 2012 to 2014.
2016 is a very important year for Audi: the German company has decided to enter Formula E by relying on the ABT team, the top series dedicated to fully electric single-seaters.
Even in this case the successes came in a short time, because in 2017 Audi entered Formula E in an official capacity and led Lucas Di Grassi to win the title, while the following year the Constructors' title arrived.
Dakar: the great triumph arrives at the last call
After many years and just as many successes in endurance racing, Audi has decided to return to one of its first loves: rallies. Not in the WRC, but in rally raids to chase the most famous endurance rally in the world: the Dakar.
It did so with the electric RS Q e-tron, however equipped inside with a TFSI 2.0 engine initially created for the DTM, a series from which Audi had withdrawn a few months before starting the new adventure between sand and dunes.
The first years of the Ingolstadt car were learning ones. Having then announced its withdrawal from rally raids shortly before the start of the Dakar, Audi found itself making perfect use of the updated car, the latest version, with Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz sensational winners of the 2024 edition. The best way to sublimate a farewell towards other shores, namely Formula 1, which will see Audi dock starting from 2026 with the simultaneous arrival of the new technical regulation which will provide for the use of hybrid propulsion (MGU-K, no longer the MGU-H) and sustainable fuels.
Audi will acquire the majority shares of Sauber and begin a new, exciting adventure in the top series of Motorsport, closing a circle that started in the first part of the 20th century when it raced in Grand Prix with Auto Union.
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