In July last year, the Germans announced the end of their involvement in customer racing as part of a wider restructuring of its motorsport division.
This included, among other changes, the dissolution of its roster of official drivers.
However, four names will continue to represent the Four Rings in different championships this year.
“The three drivers Ricardo Feller, Christopher Haase and Markus Winkelhock, as well as Frank Stippler, still have valid contracts with Audi Sport Customer Racing for the 2024 season – said Chris Reinke, head of Audi Sport Customer Racing speaking to Motorsport.com – They will be used in the various programs of our client teams”.
The clarification comes after Feller, Haase and Winkelhock joined Audi Team MPC in the Bathurst 12 Hour in February, a race which also featured several 'Audi Sport' billboards on the track.
It appears that Audi is honoring existing contracts with drivers despite the decision to abandon its factory fleet.
All four drivers' contracts reportedly only run until 2024, meaning Audi's driver program in customer racing will end next year, unless there are other changes by then.
#22 Melbourne Performance Center Audi R8 LMS Evo II: Christopher Haase, Kelvin Van Der Linde, Liam Talbot
Photo by: Audi Sport
Feller, who was signed by Abt as part of a Red Bull-funded DTM attack, confirmed he will drive exclusively Audi machinery in the 2024 racing season.
“I will only race with the R8, always in the GT World Challenge and also at the Nurburgring. I can't wait,” said the Swiss.
In the GT World Challenge, both Feller and Haase will be at the wheel of an R8 LMS GT3 prepared by Tresor Attempto, while the former will also participate in the program on the Nordschleife with Scherer PHX, which will then feature all four remaining Audi drivers – Feller, Haase , Winkelhock and Stippler – at the Nurburgring 24 Hours in June.
As for the Audi Sport logos that adorned Mount Panorama during the Bathurst race, the Ingolstadt brand clarified that it was an advertising initiative by Audi Australia.
The German division was not involved in any way at a commercial level during the 12 hours valid for the Intercontinental GT Challenge.
“Audi Australia used the Bathurst 12h to showcase the Audi Sport brand in on-track advertising,” a spokeswoman confirmed.
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