Month: July 2018

The abbreviated name for the Audi premiere – Audi PB18 e-tron – refers to the Pebble Beach venue and the year of the debut. It likewise recalls the LeMans-series winner Audi R18 e-tron, whose technology inspired the solutions for various details. The styling of the Audi PB 18 e-tron was developed at the new Malibu Design Loft.

The Audi PB18 e-tron will be unveiled at 5 p.m. on August 23, 2018, on the Laguna Seca racetrack. The concept car will then be shown at the legendary vehicle presentation “The Quail” on August 24 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Audi will present the concept car once more in Laguna Seca on August 25 (8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.). And the concept car can be seen for the final time on Sunday, August 26, at the Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach. In parallel to the show car world premiere, Audi is also showing an extensive range of vintage cars and performance vehicles.

Audi RS 3 LMS (TCR)

First victory of the season in Italy: On the fifth TCR Italy race weekend, the sole Audi RS 3 LMS on the grid prevailed over 20 competitors. Privateer Enrico Bettera won race one at Imola by 0.821 seconds for the Pit Lane Competizioni squad. It was the first victory of the season in this racing series for the Audi RS 3 LMS.

Two wins at home event: Kevin Arnold from Aichelau in Baden-Württemberg remained unbeaten at the wheel of an Audi RS 3 LMS during the sixth DMV GTC race weekend. The 18-year old who moved up from the Audi Sport TT Cup won his class in both sprint races at his home event at the Hockenheimring.

Sixth win in a row: Luis Nunes remains unbeaten in the Portuguese Hillclimb Championship. The driver from Portugal won his class again in an Audi RS 3 LMS in round six at the Rampa Porca de Murça hillclimb, as he had done in the five previous rounds.

Coming up next week

03–05/08 Road America (USA), round 8, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

03–05/08 Road America (USA), round 7, IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge

03–05/08 Nürburgring (D), races 7 and 8, ADAC GT Masters

03–05/08 Nürburgring (D), races 7 and 8, ADAC TCR Germany

04–05/08 Sydney (AUS), round 5, Australian GT Championship

04–05/08 Sydney (AUS), round 4, Australian GT Trophy Series

04–05/08 Fuji (J), round 5, Super GT

04–05/08 Grobnik (HR), races 9 and 10, FIA CEZ

– End –

Expert technical knowledge meets ultimate customer focus: Audi service technicians and advisors demonstrate their skills in the Audi Twin Cup. The team from France claimed victory in the international finals held July 26 and 27.

Nearly 2,500 teams from Audi dealers in 34 countries took part in the national competitions. 67 of those teams qualified for the international finals in Saalfelden, Austria. Making their debut this year were teams from Poland, Norway and Hungary. During the two-day event, participants demonstrated their advisory skills and technical expertise in typical customer situations ranging from the check-in inspection to diagnosing hidden defects and carrying out repairs according to manufacturer specifications.

Customer focus was given particular priority in this year’s theoretical and practical tasks involving the Audi SQ7. The teams demonstrated in concrete challenges how they use the new, flexible core service process to provide individualized customer support. The technical inspection and guided troubleshooting for features like the 360 degree camera system also put their technical skill and precision to the test.

2018 marked the 14th time the Audi Twin Cup has been held. In addition to the winners from France, the second-place Swiss team also performed impressively. The service technicians and advisors from the USA followed in third place.

With 13 brands on the grid, the anniversary edition of the Spa 24 Hours promised to be a classic. After four wins since 2011, Audi Sport customer racing aimed to clinch its fifth overall victory. “Unfortunately it just wasn’t quite enough this year,” said Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. “A couple of hours before the start we had to load 15 kilograms of ballast weight into all the cars. Although we were able to set a few quick lap times, we were unable to fight for victory over the distance. Then in the end two BMW won from two Audi and two Mercedes-AMG.” Following overall victory in the Intercontinental GT Challenge season opener in Australia in February, Audi at least managed its second win in this category, for which 18 participants were registered. 

Audi Sport Team Saintéloc emerged through the many caution periods in a favorable position and generally performed strongly. The two Germans and 2017 winners Haase and Winkelhock and their Belgian teammate Vervisch had been in with a chance of finishing on the podium since Sunday morning. With third place within grasp, Vervisch rolled slowly, due to a very close fuel calculation, to his final pit stop on the last drops of fuel and was beaten in the brand internal fight by Team Montaplast by Land-Motorsport. Wolfgang Land’s team, a former class winner at Spa, returned to the 24-hour race with Audi this year. The brothers Kelvin and Sheldon van der Linde and their Swiss teammate Jeffrey Schmidt finished third after excellent drives from all of them. 

Ingolstadt has been captivated by the Audi Summer Concerts for two whole weeks. Renowned artists such as Pekka Kuusisto, Nikolai Lugansky and Fazıl Say enthralled audiences. This year the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the London-based Philharmonia Orchestra and the Schumann Quartet made their debut appearances at the Audi Summer Concerts. Four concerts were sold out. The classical open-air concerts at Klenzepark once again attracted throngs of people, with 22,000 people attending the two opening concerts. “We feel it is important to create a special cultural offering here in the region, with something for every generation. We see both the city and the region as part of the festival, and the festival itself as part of the city and the region,” said Wendelin Göbel, the Audi Board of Management Member for Human Resources and Organization.

The classical music festival invited its visitors to take a musical stroll through Ingolstadt, with performances at ten event venues – from a salon concert in the living room of a classical music fan to the symphony concert in the City Theater to a violin duo at the Museum for Concrete Art. And the very eclectic supporting program – including talks with artists and pre-concert lectures – was very popular with audiences. What’s more, collaborations with local partners like the Taktraumfestival serve to strengthen the community spirit of the Audi Summer Concerts. “The Audi Summer Concerts were once again a very special highlight in the cultural life of Ingolstadt, with outstanding artists who shared their talent at many different locations,” said Christian Lösel, Mayor of the City of Ingolstadt.

Promoting young talent has also been a focal point of the festival for many years. Ten years after it was founded, the Audi Young Persons’ Choral Academy marked its anniversary with a performance of Joseph Haydn’s “Schöpfung” (Creation). In addition, young people from Ingolstadt will also collaborate creatively on Haydn’s oratorio as part of a project specially conceived with the city’s Stadtjugendring.

Since 1990, world-class soloists, orchestras and chamber music ensembles have been delighting audiences in Ingolstadt at the Audi Summer Concerts. Since its founding, the classical music festival has attracted more than a quarter million visitors to the concert halls.