Audi Press Release
- 30 years ago Hannu Mikkola won the World Rally Championship in an Audi
- 25 years ago Audi won the TransAm race series in the USA
- 20 years ago the Earl of March staged the first Festival of Speed
Ingolstadt - At this year's Festival of Speed, which takes place at Goodwood in the South of England from 12 - 14 July, Audi Tradition will celebrate three major anniversaries. Held for the twentieth time, the Festival is the largest historic motor sport event in the world and attracts 150,000 visitors from all over the world with its "Best of" programme. For this, Audi is shipping over an iconic vehicle, the 1936 Auto Union Type C racing car, and is also celebrating two other milestones in the history of Audi Sport: in 1983, 30 years ago, Hannu Mikkola became the first Audi driver to clinch the World Rally Championship title, at the wheel of the Audi Rallye quattro A2, and 25 years ago Audi Sport took the American TransAm title with the Audi 200 quattro, in the very first year in which it was entered for this race series.
Just five years later, in 1988, when those great days of rallying were past and Audi Sport was concentrating on circuit racing, the brand with the four rings made a dramatic return to the international motor-sport scene: with its Audi 200 quattro, the Ingolstadt carmaker stormed the American TransAm race series with a car that had been developed in just a few months. Based on the Audi 200 quattro and the standard five-cylinder turbocharged engine, the outcome was a racing car with all-wheel drive and a power output of 510 bhp. At the end of the season, Audi had won eight of the 13 races and carried off the manufacturers' world championship title. The drivers were Hurley Haywood, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Walter Röhrl. The driver's title went to Haywood. At the Festival of Speed, Hans-Joachim Stuck will be behind the wheel of the Audi 200 quattro TransAm.
No Festival of Speed would be complete without Nick Mason. Pink Floyd drummer and racing car enthusiast, he has been there since the very first time that the Earl of March held the event at his family seat in the south of England. The Earl's father had established a racing circuit in the grounds of the house, but it seemed likely to be forgotten. The son revived public interest and, with his Festival of Speed, created a new and soon legendary motor-sport event. This is the seventh year that Nick Mason has driven for Audi Tradition. After his appearances at the wheel of Auto Union Silver Arrows from the 1930s, people began to refer to him jocularly as "Auto Union's last works driver”. In response to a special request from the Earl of March, Audi Tradition is contributing to the event's jubilee by bringing its Auto Union Type C to Goodwood House. Bernd Rosemeyer dominated Europe's racing circuits in the 1936 season with this 16-cylinder car. Driven by Nick Mason, this jewel in the crown of Audi's corporate history is the special version built at that time for use in hillclimbs, with twin-tyred rear wheels. As the Pink Floyd drummer declares: "It is a great pleasure and a privilege each time I am permitted to drive one of the Auto Union Silver Arrows.”
Photo credit: Audi UK Media