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Audi 90 IMSA GTO - The US adventure with quattro in the USA continues

Name: Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO 1989
Brand: Audi

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Created in 2015

Text:

Holger Merten

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

Audi Tradition / Konzernarchiv

Archiv

Daniel Reinhard

Audi Tradition / Konzernarchiv

Archiv

Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO (1989) - Haywood at the ninth IMSA GTO championship race in 1989 at Heartland Park

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO (1989) - Test Vallelunga

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO (1989) - Stuck at the second IMSA GTO championship race in Miami

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO (1989) - Haywood in the pits at the seventh IMSA GTO championship round at Elkart Lake

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO - Stuck at the fifth IMSA GTO championship race on the Mid-Ohio Course near Lexington

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO (1989) - Stuck at the tenth IMSA GTO championship race in San Antonio

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO - Stuck in action at the 12th IMSA GTO championship race at Watkins Glen

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO - Stuck in the pits at the fifth IMSA GTO championship race on the Mid-Ohio Course near Lexington

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Stuck and Röhrl at the sixth IMSA GTO championship race in Mosport in 1989

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO (1988) - Walter Röhrl in the cockpit

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO (1989) - Driver Hurley Haywood

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO (1989) - Stuck and Röhrl at the sixth IMSA GTO championship race in Mosport in 1989

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO (1989) - Stuck and Röhrl at the seventh IMSA GTO championship race at Elkart Lake

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO (1989) - racing in the USA

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO (1989) - 600 hp

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO (1989) - in tough racing conditions

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO (1988) - during test drives in Misano

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO (1988) - rear view, during test drives in Misano

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO (1988) - these are tires

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Ulrich Baretzky is Head of Audi Sport Engine Development

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Herwart Kreiner at the second IMSA GTO championship race in Miami in 1989

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO (1989) - Stuck am zweiten IMSA-GTO-Meisterschaftslauf in Miami

Summary

After the Audi 200 Quattro won the TransAm championship in 1988, Audi switched to the IMSA series. The regulations were more permissive, but the demands were higher. A car had to be built for both the street circuits and the tracks. In this report, we tell you how the Audi Sport Team mastered this challenge, what caused them problems and how the US adventure with quattro ended.

This article contains the following chapters

Success requires promotion
Never change a winning team
New from the ground up
Time was in short supply
Only the roof was standard
Kick-off on the long distance
Debut for telemetry
The race to catch up
High-noon in the final
At the finish line
Interview with Ulrich Baretzky - Head of Engine Development Audi Sport
Interview with Herwart Kreiner - former Head of Audi Sport

Estimated reading time: 35min

Preview (beginning of the article)

A popular saying goes: you should stop when it's at its best. And that's what the men from Audi Sport did after winning the TransAm championship with the Audi 200 Quattro in 1988. They set off in search of new terrain to prove what the quattro drive was capable of on the circuit. They had not left the TransAm series entirely voluntarily; in typical American fashion, the organizer liked to impose restrictions during the season to ensure that the field was as evenly matched as possible, slowing down technical progress in order to offer spectators as much excitement as possible until the end of the season.

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