Audi Press Release
- Circuit de Catalunya focused on the Audi Sport TT Cup for two days
- 18 international talents cover nearly 7,700 kilometers
- Project Leader Rolf Michl: “Drivers did an outstanding job”
Ingolstadt/Barcelona, March 9, 2015 – The 18 permanent entrants of the new Audi Sport TT Cup have completed the initial track tests. On the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain, they drove the Audi TT cup car over a total distance of nearly 7,700 kilometers, gathering important data and experiences in the process.
In the test on the 4.655-kilometer track north of Barcelona, the international entrants of the brand new one-make cup by Audi covered 1,584 laps in total. At the end of the track tests, the field of 18 drivers had clocked an aggregated driving time of more than 100 hours. “For everybody in the team it was an impressive experience when the drivers started the engines on Saturday morning and went out on track for the first time,” says Rolf Michl, Project Leader of the Audi Sport TT Cup.
Michl was ‘impressed’ not only about the performance of the race cars. “Our young drivers did an outstanding job too,” says Michl in summing up the track test. “The instructors, Markus Winkelhock and Marco Werner, expressly praised how quickly all 18 entrants familiarized themselves with the TT cup and how meticulously they worked out their individual set-ups.”
Detlef Schmidt, Technical Project Leader of the Audi Sport TT Cup, made a positive assessment as well: “I’m very pleased with the reliability of the car and the performance of the drivers. All race cars are completely undamaged, and after nearly 7,700 kilometers at that.” The technical development is now going to analyze the data and subsequently optimize personalized settings such as the seating positions and steering wheel adjustments for the 18 entrants.
Concurrently, Audi is setting preparations for the second pre-season test, which will take place at the end of April. That’s when the drivers, in addition to covering more test kilometers, will be doing specific practice units, like start tests, and simulate the procedures on a race weekend. On the first weekend in May the Audi Sport TT Cup will start its inaugural season with two races. “We’re very much looking forward to opening the season on this big motorsport weekend at the Hockenheimring: the Audi Sport TT Cup together with the DTM, the World Rallycross Championship, Formula 3 and the Porsche Carrera Cup,” says Michl. “This is going to pack a punch.”
Photo credit: Audi Communications - Motorsport
