Dr Ullrich will have left his mark at Audi

Dr Wolfgang Ullrich handed over control of Audi's competition department to Dieter Gass last January after 23 years at the helm of the department. Under his command, the sporting branch of the manufacturer at Les Rings will have celebrated countless successes in motorsport, starting with the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Viennese found himself at the head of Audi Sport in November 1993 when the German brand's sports program was reduced due to economic conditions. He launched the brand in German and Italian super touring, which enjoyed its first success the following year at Vallelunga (Italy) and the title at the end of the season.

Audi launched the A1995 quattro in 4, still under its orders. The following year, the Ingolstadt manufacturer won seven national titles (Australia, Belgium, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Spain and Great Britain). With quattro technology subsequently banned in competition, the German brand will subsequently focus onEndurance with the 24 Hours of Le Mans in focus.

In 1999, Audi took its first podium with the R8 of Frank Biela, Didier Theys and Emanuele Pirro. Victory would come the following year with Tom Kristensen replacing the Belgian. The Germanic prototype will dominate the discipline with 63 victories in 80 starts and will be the starting point of domination in Sarthe since Audi won 13 victories in 18 entries also won by the R10 TDI, the R15 TDI and the R18 e-tron quattro which will offer one last victory to the brand in Sarthe with the infernal trio composed of André Lotterer, Benoît Tréluyer and Marcel Fässler who have won a total of three times on the Le Mans circuit.

With the R10 TDI, Audi has also become the first manufacturer to win the Le Mans double clock with a diesel engine thanks to the success of Frank Biela, Marco Werner and Emanuele Pirro.

The “success story” will nevertheless be bruised by the death of Michele Alboreto during a testing accident at the Lausitzring (Germany) in 2001. It ended at the end of 2016 after 107 victories in 187 races, 17 of which were obtained in WEC (not counting the 24 Hours of Le Mans).

Under his command, the Rings brand also shone in DTM including a title from Mattias Ekström obtained in 2004 with the A4 DTM and a “hat trick” signed from 2007 to 2009 by the Swede and Timo Scheider. In total, Audi will have celebrated six Drivers' titles and 60 victories. His career will nevertheless be tarnished by the instruction given to Scheider in Spielberg (Austria) in 2015 asking him to hit the drivers Mercedes Robert Wickens and Pascal Wehrlein.

Audi also had a large presence on the customer racing scene from 2009 with the R8 LMS GT3 whose development was carried out under the direction of Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich.

At 67, Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich leaves behind a shower of trophies at the Audi premises in Neuburg. In 566 entries, the brand has won 209 victories including 13 at Le Mans, eleven at the 12 Hours of Sebring (Florida) and nine at Petit Le Mans (Georgia), as well as 31 Drivers' titles. The German brand also developed 18 racing cars during its reign.