Formula E

Audi drops WEC programme for Formula E

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  • #331323

    Audi has dropped a bombshell on the motor racing world today by confirming it will scrap its WEC programme, including Le Mans, at the end of the season, to focus on Formula E instead.

    Audi is realigning its motorsport strategy. The premium brand will terminate its FIA WEC commitment, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, at the end of the 2016 season. Instead Audi is taking up a factory-backed commitment in the all-electric Formula E racing series.

    Speaking to 300 employees of the motorsport department on Wednesday morning, Chairman of the Board of Management Rupert Stadler put this strategic decision in the context of the current burdens on the brand, pointing out that it was important to focus on the things that would keep Audi competitive in the years ahead. That is why the Board of Management had decided to terminate Audi’s commitment in endurance racing. In the future, Audi will be using the know-how and skills of the motorsport experts from Neuburg and Neckarsulm partially in motorsport and partially in production development.

    “We’re going to contest the race for the future on electric power,” says Stadler. “As our production cars are becoming increasingly electric, our motorsport cars, as Audi’s technological spearheads, have to even more so.” The first all-electric racing series perfectly matches the strategy of offering fully battery-electric models year by year starting in 2018, Audi currently being in the greatest transformation stage in the company’s history. The commitment in FIA Formula E will already commence in 2017. It is regarded as the racing series with the greatest potential for the future. That is why Audi has intensified the existing partnership with Team ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport in the current 2016/2017 season. On the road toward a full factory commitment, the manufacturer is now actively joining the technical development.

    The commitment in the DTM, where Audi will be competing with the successor of the Audi RS 5 DTM in 2017, will remain untouched. In mid-October, the premium brand won the manufacturers’ and teams’ classifications. In 2013, Mike Rockenfeller most recently brought the title of DTM Champion home for the four rings.

    No final decision has yet been made concerning a future involvement in the FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX). In the current 2016 season, DTM factory driver Mattias Ekström in his Audi S1 EKS RX quattro clinched the World Championship title early, competing against numerous factory teams. Up to now, Audi’s involvement has been limited to supporting the private EKS team. The brand is currently evaluating a possible extension of the commitment, the exciting topic of electrification being on the agenda in rallycross racing as well.

    The departure from the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) marks the end of a successful era. For 18 years, the brand was active in Le Mans prototype racing. During this period, it scored 13 victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and set numerous technical milestones. At Le Mans, Audi clinched the first victory of a TFSI engine (2001), the first success of a race car with a TDI engine (2006), plus the first triumph of a sports car with a hybrid powertrain (2012). In the brand’s 185 races contested to date, Audi’s Le Mans prototypes have achieved 106 victories, 80 pole positions and 94 fastest race laps. On two occasions, Audi won the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) with the Audi R18 e-tron quattro race car. In addition, from 2000 to 2008, Audi, nine times in succession, secured the title in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), the world’s most important racing series for Le Mans prototypes at the time.

    “After 18 years in prototype racing that were exceptionally successful for Audi, it’s obviously extremely hard to leave,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Audi Sport Team Joest shaped the WEC during this period like no other team. I would like to express my thanks to our squad, to Reinhold Joest and his team, to the drivers, partners and sponsors for this extremely successful cooperation. It’s been a great time!” Due to the LMP commitment, Audi has been demonstrating Vorsprung durch Technik and learning a lot for use in production.

    This has been on the cards since Porsche arrived in WEC and started beating Audi, and Volkswagen Group was implicated in the dieselgate scandal which is going to cost the company billions. They trimmed their motor sport commitment this season and it wouldn’t be a surprise if more was to follow.

    It’s also a huge vote of confidence in Formula E from a premium car manufacturer.

    #331324
    Neel Jani
    Participant

    Wow! I never saw this one coming in 2016 at least. I knew with the reasons mentioned above, it was inevitable having already trimmed their entries from three cars to two at Le Mans for both Audi and Porsche but their exit in 2016 itself is truly a bombshell.

    This will create too many LMP1 drivers with only two teams. I really enjoyed three manufacturers in WEC but we are back to two again and honestly, it won’t be the same without Audi.

    #331325
    Craig Woollard
    Participant

    Participating in Formula E is a lot less expensive than participating in LMP1 as well, with manufacturers only really asked to develop the drivetrain instead of spending millions on things like downforce. And it’s yet another manufacturer picking Formula E over other, more established series.

    Whatever Formula E is doing, it seems to be doing it right on that front.

    This also leaves some absolutely quality drivers (some with 40 convenient superlicence points I should add) without a race seat next year.

    #331326

    @craig-o And presumably a lot of Audi’s technical staff…

    #331327
    Will Wood
    Keymaster

    Audi gone, Webber going, Nissan a non-starter…

    Can’t help but feel the peak of the Le Mans/WEC renaissance has already been reached now. I can only see both Le Mans and the WEC in general being less interesting from now on. At least when it comes to the P1 class.

    #331328
    MazdaChris
    Participant

    Very sad news for a long time WEC/Le Mans fan like myself. It’s hard to put into words just what a huge impact Audi had on prototype racing, arguably bringing the level of tech and professionalism up to, and in some cases beyond, what we see in F1. They set the standard to which so many other teams now aspire. It absolutely won’t be the same without them, but it’ll also be interesting to see what kind of an effect they will have on Formula E. The expectation will be that they will hit the ground running and be successful out of the gates.

    I just hope that other manufacturers will be prepared to step in to fill the void, as Toyota did when Peugeot left. Without a clearly-standard-setting team in the WEC, the weight of those victories may be lessened, and the WEC may find itself in decline.

    Perhaps Audi will rejoin Le Mans in a few years and become the first team to win using all electric power…

    #331329
    PorscheF1
    Participant

    I don’t understand how they “need to drop the WEC to work on FE”. The FE is like a scratch on every single level of the WEC, especially cost wise.

    My first thought was that it now becomes crucial for the survival of the WEC that a new team enters. Otherwise we’re going to see Porsche win all races next year. It cannot be that winning Le Mans is only a question of finishing without competition.

    As for all the drivers but also Vanthoor and Rast who without a doubt have been led to believe they were getting a seat soon,… and all the engineers who suddenly are without a job.

    I’m wondering whether being beaten by Porsche in combination with the entire cost surrounding the exhaust scandal isn’t the real reason.

    #331330
    PorscheF1
    Participant

    Also hoping Ekström can continue in the WRX.

    #331331
    Adam Blocker
    Participant

    Well now the F1/WEC is over for the next few years unless someone else joins. Having only two teams in the top class is pretty lame.

    Get ready for the F1/FE debate in about 5 years though.

    #331332
    toiago
    Participant

    That’s a huge blow to the WEC. I too have been following Audi for quite a while now, so it’s really sad that they’re pulling the plug on WEC. With just two teams, things get a lot less exciting, and the P1 class becomes much poorer.

    However, I’ve seen a while ago that Peugeot might me interested in joining the WEC again, since they’re finally strengthening their financials after the crisis.

    Too bad BMW seems only interested in the GT classes, otherwise their 2018 entry could be just the perfect fit. They have the resources, the pedigree, the drivers. We’ll just have to wait and see if there’s someone interested in filling that huge gap.

    #331333

    @xtwl

    I don’t understand how they “need to drop the WEC to work on FE”.

    They don’t, this is about making a huge financial saving because of Dieselgate without mentioning it.

    #331334
    MazdaChris
    Participant

    I just hope it turns out to be a positive for Formula E and not a negative. When a major player joins a motorsport category, it inevitably drives up costs as the other teams strive to keep up. If one team is dominant, it’ll be to the detriment of the sport as a whole. We want to see good competition – something we’ve had for a long time in WEC – not Mercedes style domination.

    I mean, when you look at it objectively, Mercedes joining F1 as a manufacturer has been very bad for the sport.

    #331336
    JackySteeg
    Participant

    It’s a tragedy. I can’t think of any word for it, but it did seem inevitable. Let’s not forget that diesel technology was central to Audi’s LMP1 program, so even not taking the financial fallout from the emissions scandal into account, it’s hard to think of reasons why VW would continue to throw money at it. It’s just really sad how it’s all going to end so abruptly.

    Also, I hate to say it, but as @willwood said, it looks like this golden era of prototype racing is already over. Those exciting early days of the WEC when Toyota, Porsche and Nissan returned feel like a lifetime ago. Peugeot are gone, Nissan pulled out almost immediately, Audi are leaving, and Toyota, as always, looks shaky. Makes me feel that it’s only a matter of time before LMP1 goes the way of Group C.

    Above all, I’m sad that we we’re losing 6 superb drivers from top-level sportscar racing — particularly the all-conquering lineup of Lotterer/Treluyer/Faessler.

    #331337

    Here’s the boss of WEC putting a brave face on things and avoiding any mention of how few LMP1 cars there’s going to be next year:

    #331340
    Matthijs
    Participant

    @mazdachris For a global sport as F1 is, Mercedes joining was indeed bad for the sport. But is a major player bad for a small developing sport? Back in the days F1 needed Ferrari, Maserati, Mercedes, Cooper to become big. Who says Audi joining can’t be a boost for (the professionalism of) Formula E?

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