GT / Tourism

Audi Sport will end its customer competition department

Audi Sport Customer Racing, the customer competition department of the four-ring brand, will end its activities from 2024 in the GT categories.

Published 12/07/2023 à 14:55

Dorian Grangier

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Audi Sport will end its customer competition department

Is it (soon) the end for Audi in GT3 competitions? © Audi Sport

It's almost the end of one of the greatest manufacturers in the GT disciplines. Audi Sport will close its Customer Service branch (customer competition) at the end of the 2023 season. A decision which is part of the German brand's policy of investing fully on his arrival in Formula 1, announced for 2026, but also to achieve the objective of complete electrification of its road range, as part of its “Vorsprung 2030” strategy.

This “end clap” for Audi Sport Customer Service means the end of GT activities, particularly in GT3. The customer teams of the four-ringed firm received a memo from Audi on Tuesday, announcing the end of its “strategic operations” in customer competition, which also includes the cessation of sales of its GT2 models, GT3, GT4 and TCR for the first quarter of 2024 (while specifying that “all orders placed by this date will be honored”).

However, the approval of current competition models is extended for one cycle, and Audi Sport will continue to support its current customers still involved in the various championships. The spare parts sales service will also remain available. 

The end of official Audi drivers in 2024

As a result, there will no longer be an official Audi Sport driver in 2024. In 2023, 14 drivers – including Frenchman Simon Gachet – were supported by the German brand. Several drivers had already left the Audi fold, notably after the end of the stillborn project of the LMDh program in Endurance. Big names in GT like Dries Vanthoor, René Rast and Kelvin van der Linde had left Audi Sport, moving in particular to BMW.

Audi will therefore leave the GT scene through the back door. The brand with the four rings, which launched its Customer Service branch in 2009, has enjoyed phenomenal success for almost 15 years through GT3 competitions, with the Audi R8 LMS GT3 and its Evo version. Even today, more than 600 Audis are currently entered in GT competitions around the world.

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