Formula E, Dakar, Endurance… and F1? What does Audi's announcement hide?

What did Audi announce?

Monday, November 30, almost 30 minutes after the replacement of Dieter Gass by Juluis Seebach at the head of Audi Sport was made official, the Ingolstadt firm released a second press release. The illustration? An all-terrain vehicle under a tarpaulin. No, you are not dreaming, the first announcement is indeed the launch of a brand new challenge: the Dakar 2022! “ We want to continue to live up to our slogan Vorsprung durch Technik (advancement through technology, in French. Editor's note) at the highest level of international motorsport, and therefore develop avant-garde technologies for our road cars, said Markus Duesmann, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Audi AG. Le rally-hardest raid on the planet is perfect for this. »

Rallying is the discipline which served as the scene for the first chapters of the brand's golden book, with Group B and the quattro revolution from 1981. Rally-raid, on the other hand, had never aroused the less interest from the brand. Curious therefore, especially since the discipline does not enjoy growing popularity. Certainly, but it is changing and wants to give pride of place to so-called green technologies. From 2022, the firm with the four rings will therefore challenge Toyota and Mini (BMW) in the dunes of the Saudi desert. But not with just anything, an electric four-wheel drive (the standard from next year).

Next objective: the Dakar with a 4×4 equipped with a range extender. © Audi

Well almost. The energy will come from a high-voltage battery recharged as needed by an energy generator in the form of a heat engine (see AUTOhebdo n°2290, currently on newsstands). The car will therefore carry a reasonable quantity of fuel. Hypocrite? No. This is nice ? Certainly, especially when we were caught up in a polluting emissions scandal a handful of years ago.

The fact remains that Audi is offering itself a new opportunity to make history by registering as the first manufacturer to enter the Dakar with a so-called electric car (mechanical transmission point), respectively 16 and 10 years after becoming the first to win a world famous race – the 24 Hours of Le Mans – with a diesel car… then a hybrid! Hats off to the audacity!

Is this a major program? Not really, because its media impact will be minor. But it will have the merit of occupying the teams of the high-tech stronghold of Neuburg, the new nerve center of Audi Sport, which recently brings together all the sports programs – official and customer – of the brand. And for good reason, deprived of DTM for several weeks, they will also have to do without the Formula E from the end of 2021, the season of which will begin on January 16 in Santagio, Chile.

Why is Audi leaving Formula E?

It must be recognized that this falsely green discipline does not enjoy an attractiveness worthy of the spectacle offered and the level of the drivers present. At the end of September, Herbert Diess, appointed Chairman of the Management Board of Volkswagen since April 12, 2018, did not hesitate to highlight the discipline dear to Alejandro Agag. “ La Formula 1 is going in the right direction by wanting to become carbon neutral and using synthetic fuels, the 62-year-old Austrian said on LinkedIn. It is more exciting, fun, and offers an experience closer to competition and sport-technology than what Formula E boasts, which goes around the city center like in a video game. »

Audi will leave Formula E at the end of 2021. © Audi

A devastating attack on a championship in which its two flagship brands, Audi and Porsche, which landed at the end of 2019. It didn't take much to guess that at least one of the two was going to leave the ship. And it will logically be Audi – winner of the Drivers’ ranking in 2016-2017 with Lucas di Grassi, then the Teams’ title the following year – present since the launch of the series at the start of 2014. “ Formula E accompanied Audi in its transformation phase, continues Markus Duesmann. Today, the electromobility of the four rings is no longer a future dream, it is combined with the present. We are taking a new step in the world of electrified motorsport, measuring ourselves against the most extreme conditions. The many technical freedoms offered by the Dakar provide us with a perfect testing laboratory in this regard. » Freedoms that Extreme E does not offer? Certainly.

This is a big setback for Formula E, which has since also learned of BMW's departure. They will try to console themselves by saying that the Germanic powertrain will still be available to customer teams, such as Virgin Racing. But will the Dakar be enough to keep the troops busy? No, and this is where two pillars of the brand come into play: Customer competition andEndurance.

Audi returns to the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Unlike some of its competitors, Audi has been able to make customer competition a profitable business. The R8 LMS GT3 will always be present at the start of the biggest GT races on the planet, such as the 24 Hours of Spa and the Nürburgring, or even in IGTC. But that's not all. The statement is discreet, Audi likes to play with our nerves, but the brand wants to return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, four years after leaving the WEC at the end of 2016, notably with 13 victories in the Le Mans double clock tower.

From 2023, Audi will reconnect with its core discipline: endurance. © Audi

« We are evaluating what other possible areas of activity are at international level, says Julius Seebach. The desires of our customers will always be at the center of our concerns, as will the future strategy of our company, focused on electrified and carbon-neutral mobility. This is why we are intensively preparing our arrival in LMDh (emanating from a hybrid DPi. Editor's note) with, as a highlight, participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Daytona. The most important message for our fans is that sport will continue to play a crucial role at Audi. »And that’s really good news for the WEC and theIMSA ! If it is said half-heartedly, Audi should definitely enter the discipline in 2023.

Does Audi's project call into question Porsche's?

You have read it many times in our columns, Porsche is about to announce its return to the premier category by 2023, also with an LMDh. And if Audi's announcement took everyone by surprise, it does not call into question Zuffenhausen's intentions. The two cars would also be more or less distant cousins ​​and would share the same chassis (Multimatic would hold the rope, according to our information).

They would ultimately only differ in their engine (aspirated V8 for Porsche and 4-cylinder in-line turbo borrowed from the RS5 DTM for Audi?) and of course their bodywork. The approach would also be different. Porsche should arrive officially (while selling cars to customer teams) while Audi would only rely on partner teams closely supervised by the parent company, a bit like the Porsche-Penske marriage in ALMS in 2005 to 2008 or what she is doing in GT3 with Phoenix & Co.

A point which, however, remains to be clarified, with the brand's managers saying everything and its opposite on the subject. Furthermore, Porsche's program would be long-term (we are talking about a large handful of years) while Audi's could only be brief. For what ? Perhaps to satisfy F1 dreams.

Is F1 really on the shelves?

Since taking power, Herbert Diess absolutely wants to see one of his brands in Formula 1. The subject has not been approved, far from it, let's not get carried away. But it would be good to study. Motorist of Red Bull ? A clean stable? We are not there yet, but the arrival of the four rings in the premier discipline of motorsport could take place in 2025, the date of entry into force of the new engine regulations, the application of which would be brought forward by one year. And with Audi more than Porsche, the idea being to go and have fun with Mercedes !

In Endurance, the LMDhs bearing the four rings could be taken over by another VW Group brand. And why not Bentley, looking for a new sporting program after announcing its official withdrawal from GT3 at the end of the 9 Hours of Kyalami on Sunday? A technology transfer similar to that which was carried out between the Ingolstadt firm and its British cousin from 2001 to 2003 at Le Mans.

In the space of a relatively succinct press release, Audi shook up the motorsport world. “ Multifaceted engagement is and will remain an integral part of Audi's strategy », concluded Markus Duesmann! Audi believes in the marketing values ​​of auto racing, and we are not going to complain about it.