Audi receives numerous international accolades

Ingolstadt - Audi Sport and its drivers received various awards for a successful 2012 season.

Trophy presentation in Istanbul: Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer accepted their trophies for winning the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC on Friday at the official gala of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, FIA.

Their team mates Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish received the runner-up award in the Ciragan Palace. Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich was delighted with the trophy for Audi winning the Manufacturers’ World Championship.

Triple honors in Italy: On Saturday in Bologna Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich accepted the Caschi d’Oro for Audi Sport’s innovative accomplishments.

The specialist magazine Autosprint awarded two other Caschi d’Oro: Dindo Capello received a prize for his performances throughout his career. Audi Sport Italia was honored as team.

The squad won the Superstars championship title with Johan Kristoffersson in an Audi RS 5 and finished runner-up with Andrea Sonvico in an Audi R8 LMS ultra in the Italian GT Championship.

Awards for Le Mans drivers: The British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) awarded its prizes on December 3 in London. An award went to Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer for the best combined result from the Le Mans 24 Hours and the WEC race at Silverstone.

The three Audi factory drivers won both races on the way to winning the World Championship title. Another award, in which the ACO is also involved, went to Allan McNish as best placed Briton at Le Mans.

Thrifty fun: The Audi factory drivers Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer were involved in the FIA governing body’s iMobility Challenge on Friday in Istanbul.

They promoted the project ‘Intelligent Mobility’ in the presence of FIA member club presidents and the local media. The goal was to complete a reference route in the Turkish metropolis as economically as possible by car.

New endurance regulations: The FIA agreed various changes for the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC at its World Council meeting on December 5 in Istanbul. Now, two drivers in each car must each complete two timed laps.

The average time of these four laps determines the grid order. The fourth round of the season in São Paulo will now take place a day later on September 1. The normal warm-up before each race has been cancelled for 2013.

Fan competition: The Le Mans organizer Automobile Club de l’Ouest calls for fans to select the most important cars in the 24-hour race’s history.

Before January 14 participants can choose online from the Audi R10 TDI (winner from 2006 to 2008), the Audi R18 TDI (winner 2011) and the Audi R18 e-tron quattro (first hybrid winner 2012) and win valuable prizes.

Pleasure on Großglockner: Filipe Albuquerque proved his skills in front of the cameras on the Großglockner ‘high Alpine road’.

The Audi factory driver from Portugal demonstrated the sporting talents of the powerful 188 kW (256 hp) Audi A1 quattro on Thursday and Friday during filming for Audi.tv, which will be shown online soon.

Hot laps in Italy: Miguel Molina visited the Red Bull Speed Days on Saturday and Sunday in Bologna. The Audi factory driver gave finalists in the Red Bull Kart Fight World Final 2012 valuable tips, while he impressed visitors and guests alike with drifts and fast laps in an Audi R8 LMS.

Le Mans technology up close: Audi museum mobile visitors can admire the Le Mans winner from 2012 in Ingolstadt. From December 6, 2012 to March 17, 2013 the Audi R18 e-tron quattro is a part of the exhibition ‘Audi future lab: mobility’.

The special exhibition dedicates itself to future drivetrains and fuels as well as mobility solutions for the world’s metropolises.

Race car design exhibition: Audi presents the R18 Ultra Chair at the Design Miami/ in the United States from December 5 to 9.

The prototype of the chair designed by Clemens Weisshaar and Reed Kram was developed in cooperation with the Audi lightweight design center. The chair’s namesake, the Audi R18 ultra race car, can also be admired in Miami.

Virtual racing: Four Audi drivers raced against other professional racing drivers in a race simulator on December 1.

Adrien Tambay, Benoît Tréluyer, Loïc Duval and Stéphane Ortelli met in Pierrelatte, between Valence and Avignon, for the Ellip6 Sim-Cup and thoroughly enjoyed themselves while contesting several virtual races.

For the fans: Audi factory driver Filipe Albuquerque signed autographs on the DTM stand on Saturday and Sunday during the closing weekend of the Essen Motor Show.

In German television: The Race of Champions will be broadcast live in Germany by SAT.1 from 13:45 on both Saturday and Sunday this coming weekend.

Audi provides four examples of the powerful 570 hp R8 LMS as competition cars in Bangkok. Audi factory driver Tom Kristensen competes for the twelfth time in the Race of Champions.

He competes in the Nations Cup on Saturday together with Jorge Lorenzo in Team All Stars and on Sunday for victory in the drivers’ classification.

Last year the eight-time Le Mans winner reached the final. In 2005, he guided Team Scandinavia to victory in the Nations Cup with Mattias Ekström.

A word from ... Tom Kristensen

Next weekend you compete in the Race of Champions. When does everything start for you? "I fly on Tuesday and arrive in Bangkok on Wednesday. I’ll visit a few tourist attractions in Thailand to begin before our race weekend starts."

This will be your twelfth appearance. What attracts you to this race every year? "I love being there, because the organizing team under Fredrik Johnsson and Michèle Mouton are very obliging and stage a wonderful event for both us drivers and the public. In addition, from the sporting aspect it is simply a first class way to finish the year."

What is the biggest challenge? "The best from many motorsport disciplines meet here, from Formula 1 to rallying to sportscars, Indy cars and motorbikes. I’ll start together with MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo in the Nations Cup.

I also really like the variety of race cars. Seven different types of vehicles are prepared for us, including the Audi R8 LMS, which I also drove on the final last year.

You always have to get used to another car in a short space of time and have to produce a top performance when it counts.

Audi Motorsport