ACO and WEC react to Audi withdrawal

Audi, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the World ChampionshipEndurance is a love story whose end began this Wednesday with the announcement of the German manufacturer to withdraw from the events organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest at the end of the 2016 season.

Since 2000, the brand with the rings has accumulated 13 victories in the Sarthe double clock and remained one of the pillars of the WEC, created in 2012, on which she won twice in 2012 and 2013.

The ACO logically wanted to react after this announcement in the form of a press release.

“It is with emotion that we all learned this morning of Audi's decision to leave Endurance, comments Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest. Although prepared for this decision, we regret the departure of a major player in Endurance for another adventure.

Present at Le Mans since 1999, the German firm has written some of the most beautiful and intense pages in the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and more recently the WEC. More than a competitor, the brand with the four rings has been a real contributor to the tremendous growth of endurance in recent years, all over the world.

Reducing costs for manufacturers is a major focus for the ACO in partnership with the FIA. Furthermore, these two entities have clearly set the course for the coming years: to remain at the forefront of innovation while offering the best possible platform for the new technologies that prepare the car of tomorrow.

Hybrid technology and electric motors are already everyday life in endurance racing. Changes in the technical regulations towards electric hydrogen propulsion will respond tomorrow to the energy transition of this new era.

We salute the work carried out by the Audi Sport and Team Joest teams who performed admirably. I have a special thought for my friend Wolfgang Ullrich.
A page is turning and at the same time another is opening with the announced arrival of other manufacturers. (notably BMW in GTE in 2018, Editor’s note) »

“Obviously we regret this departure of a major player in the WEC, specifies Gérard Neveu, Managing Director of the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship. Audi has made its mark over the last 15 years in Endurance and more particularly the first 5 seasons of the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship.

Today we first think of the people at Audi Sport and Team Joest. Drivers, engineers, mechanics and team members for whom this news is a great sadness. We express our admiration and gratitude to them for their extraordinary sporting performance in the WEC since 2012.

Le WEC c’est une grille de 32 voitures,  20  teams, avec 4 catégories et 6 constructeurs engagés.  Dans une semaine à Shanghai, Porsche et Toyota s’affronteront en piste pour le titre mondial LMP1 2016 tout comme Ferrari et Aston Martin will compete for the GTE title. One manufacturer leaves, others arrive soon, that's the life of a championship. »