A MAJOR SHIFT FOR AUDI, AND FOR RACING.

by Peter M. De Lorenzo

Detroit. A couple of weeks ago, in a column entitled "The hum of change is about to take over racing," I had this to say:

Let's face it, if I had my choice, Formula 1 cars would scream with normally-aspirated V8s and V10s ("Bring Back The Scream"); Indy cars would shriek with big horsepower and multiple engine manufacturers participating; GT cars would have ground-pounding V8s and non-turbo six-cylinder engines; and there would be a place for a new Formula 5000 series here in the U.S. with even more hopped-up V8s. And fortunately, there are still several avenues available where I can experience exactly that in contemporary and vintage motorsport.

But that's not where the manufacturers are headed, and racing enthusiasts - and participants - should take heed of this fact.

If you keep up with the industry, the move to electrification is picking up speed at a phenomenal rate. Every single major auto manufacturer in the world is committing massive amounts of money to future all-electric vehicle programs. This isn't just an aberration or a fad, this is a full-on commitment to future product programs that will transform what we drive. Will there still be high-performance street machines with high-powered internal combustion engines? Yes, of course, but this growing all-electric tide will irrevocably change our mainstream vehicle fleet.

Well, the hum of change has just weighed in. Today, in the most dramatic move to the future by a manufacturer to date, Audi has announced that it is realigning its motorsport strategy. The premium brand will discontinue its FIA WEC commitment  - including the 24 Hours of Le Mans - at the end of the 2016 season. Instead, Audi is making a factory-backed commitment to the all-electric Formula E racing series.

Speaking to 300 employees of the motorsport department on Wednesday morning, Chairman of the Board of Management Rupert Stadler put this strategic decision in perspective, saying that the company needed to focus on the things that would keep Audi competitive in the years ahead. “We’re going to contest the race for the future on electric power,” says Stadler. “As our production cars are becoming increasingly electric, our motorsport cars, as Audi’s technological spearheads, have to even more so.”

Audi is in the midst of the greatest transformation in its history, and all-electric power will play a huge role. The commitment to FIA Formula E will begin in earnest in 2017, because it is regarded as the racing series with the greatest potential for the future. Audi has already intensified the existing partnership with Team ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport in the current 2016/2017 season by stepping up its technical development in preparation for a full-on Audi factory effort in 2017.

Make no mistake, the decision by Audi to leave the WEC was helped by two factors. First, the ongoing crisis - and expense - over diesel emissions cheating has been costly, and those costs are still rising (see "On The Table" -WG). Secondly, the fact that Porsche is now back in WEC competition mitigated the decision to shift Audi's racing priorities and made it easier to consider. Audi will remain in DTM, but no final decision has yet been made concerning a future involvement in the FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX), where Audi DTM factory driver Mattias Ekström (Audi S1 EKS RX quattro) has already clinched the World Championship. Up to now, Audi’s involvement has been limited to supporting the private EKS team, but the brand is evaluating a possible extension of the commitment, with the topic of electrification being on the agenda in rallycross racing as well.

With Audi's departure from the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), we should take note of one of the most successful efforts in racing history. Audi was active in Le Mans prototype racing for 18 years. During this period, it scored 13 victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and set numerous technical milestones. At Le Mans, Audi clinched the first victory of a TFSI engine (2001), the first success of a race car with a TDI engine (2006), plus the first triumph of a sports car with a hybrid powertrain (2012). In the brand’s 185 races contested to date, Audi’s Le Mans prototypes have achieved 106 victories, 80 pole positions and 94 fastest race laps. On two occasions, Audi won the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) with the Audi R18 e-tron quattro race car. In addition, Audi secured the title in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) for nine straight years, from 2000 to 2008.

“After 18 years in prototype racing that were exceptionally successful for Audi, it’s obviously extremely hard to leave,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Audi Sport Team Joest shaped the WEC during this period like no other team. I would like to express my thanks to our squad, to Reinhold Joest and his team, to the drivers, partners and sponsors for this extremely successful cooperation. It’s been a great time!” Due to the LMP commitment, Audi has been demonstrating Vorsprung durch Technik and learning a lot for use in production.

For racing enthusiasts this is sobering news. The future is upon us, whether we're ready for it, or not.

And that's the High-Octane Truth for this week.

(Audi)

Editor's Note: Many of you have seen Peter's references over the years to the Hydrogen Electric Racing Federation (HERF), which he launched in 2007. For those of you who weren't following AE at the time, you can read two of HERF's press releases here and here. And for even more details (including a link to Peter's announcement speech), check out the HERF entry on Wikipedia here. -WG

Publisher's Note: As part of our continuing series celebrating the "Glory Days" of racing, we're proud to present another noteworthy image from the Ford Racing Archives. - PMD

(Courtesy of the Ford Racing Archives)

Riverside, California, Sunday, November 26, 1967. F1 World Champion John Surtees (No. 24 John Mecom/Bowes Seal Fast Lola-Ford) at speed in the Rex Mays 300 USAC Champ Car Series race at Riverside International Raceway. Surtees qualified fourth in his only start ever in an Indianapolis-type racing car, but retired early with ignition problems. Dan Gurney (No. 48 All American Racers/Olsonite Eagle-Ford) led 68 of the 116 laps on his way to a dominating victory. Gurney considered it one of the most satisfying races of his career, as he beat an impressive field of national and international racing stars. Bobby Unser (No. 3 Bob Wilke/Rislone Eagle-Ford) finished second and Mario Andretti (No. 1 Al Dean/Dean Van Lines Brawner Hawk-Ford) came in third. Other famous names in the field? Jim Clark, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Joe Leonard, Lloyd Ruby, Jim Hurtubise, Roger McCluskey, Goerge Follmer, Johnny Rutherford, Jerry Grant, Jerry Titus, Ronnie Bucknum and Bill Vukovich Jr. Get all the statistics of races back in the day at racing-reference.info, and watch a video here.