At this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed (July 4 to 7) in southern England, Audi Tradition will be at the start with three historic cars. The Ingolstadt-based company will be sending the Audi Rallye quattro A2, the Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO and the Audi 200 quattro TransAm to the Mecca of historic motorsport. The Audi motorsport icons will be driven by outstanding drivers from Audi history.
World rally champion Stig Blomqvist will be driving the car in which he became world champion in 1984. Five-time Le Mans winner Frank Biela sits behind the wheel of the Audi 200 quattro TransAm, while three-time Le Mans winner Benoit Tréluyer steps on the gas in the Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO.
Rally fans can look forward to the Audi Rallye quattro A2 from 1984. The car with the long wheelbase was a further development of the previous year's car, in which Hannu Mikkola became world champion. Audi opened the 1984 season with a bang when the team of the four rings landed a one-two-three victory at the Monte Carlo Rally.
Walter Röhrl, who had recently joined Audi Sport, triumphed in his first outing - but the season was to be dominated by someone else. The Swede Stig Blomqvist won the very next WRC race in Sweden and ended the season as drivers' world champion. Audi also became the manufacturers' world champion. At Goodwood, Blomqvist will take his place in the very car in which he started and finished second in Monte Carlo in 1984.
Frank Biela has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times in an Audi, Benoit Tréluyer three times. Both will be guests of Audi Tradition at Goodwood in two special race cars. Both represent Audi's departure for the USA. After the company withdrew from rallying, it turned its attention to circuit racing in North America.
In 1988, the Ingolstadt-based company entered the TransAm series with an Audi 200 quattro and was unbeatable. They won the manufacturers' championship on their debut and driver Hurley Haywood won the drivers' championship. The following year, Audi entered the IMSA GTO series with an Audi 90 quattro. Hans-Joachim Stuck was the outstanding driver, finishing at the top of the podium seven times. Because the two opening races were missed, it was not enough for Stuck and the brand to take overall victory. The Audi starter field at Goodwood will be completed by a two-wheeled contemporary witness: the rebuilt DKW UL 500 from 1937 will start in the motorcycle field.
