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

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Created in 2015

Reading time 35min

Written by:

Holger Merten

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

Audi Tradition / Konzernarchiv

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Daniel Reinhard

Audi Tradition / Konzernarchiv

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

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO (1989) - Haywood in den Boxen am siebten IMSA-GTO-Meisterschaftslauf in Elkart Lake

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO - Stuck am fünften IMSA-GTO-Meisterschaftslauf auf dem Mid-Ohio-Course bei Lexington

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO (1989) - Stuck am zehnten IMSA-GTO-Meisterschaftslauf in San Antonio

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO - Stuck im Einsatz am 12. IMSA-GTO-Meisterschaftslauf in Watkins Glen

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO - Stuck in den Boxen am fünften IMSA-GTO-Meisterschaftslauf auf dem Mid-Ohio-Course bei Lexington

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Stuck und Röhrl am sechsten IMSA-GTO-Meisterschaftslauf 1989 in Mosport

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO (1988) - Walter Röhrl im Cockpit

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

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO (1989) - Stuck und Röhrl am sechsten IMSA-GTO-Meisterschaftslauf 1989 in Mosport

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO (1989) - Stuck und Röhrl am siebten IMSA-GTO-Meisterschaftslauf in Elkart Lake

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO (1989) - im Renneinsatz in den USA

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO (1989) - 600 PS stark

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO (1989) - im harten Renneinsatz

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO (1988) - bei Testfahrten in Misano

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO (1988) - Heckansicht, bei Testfahrten in Misano

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Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO (1988) - das sind Reifen

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Ulrich Baretzky ist Leiter der Audi Sport Motorenentwicklung

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Herwart Kreiner am zweiten IMSA-GTO-Meisterschaftslauf in Miami 1989

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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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