Motorsport: Audi withdrawal hits Marcel Fässler
Audi will withdraw from the World Endurance Championship (WEC) at the end of the season. The future focus will be on the FIA Formula E and still on the DTM. For Marcel Fässler, this doesn't have to mean the end of a very successful career. The news was not entirely unexpected, the rumor had been doing the rounds for a long time. Audi is withdrawing from the [...]
The news was not entirely unexpected, the rumor had been doing the rounds for a long time. Audi will withdraw from the WEC (World Endurance Championship) and leave the scene to its sister company from 2017. The question had been asked since Porsche's comeback three years ago: What sense does it make to have two corporate brands with budgets of several hundred million euros fighting each other every year? Especially as the financial consequences of the emissions scandal are forcing savings. The answer is now available. Sports car manufacturer Porsche belongs to Le Mans like Ferrari belongs to Formula 1. Audi has won the 24-hour race 13 times in the last 16 years and set milestones with diesel technology. The Ingolstadt-based company has nothing left to prove and can only lose, which is what happened against Porsche in the last two years.
As expected, the intensification of the partnership with Abt Schaeffler's Formula E team will now result in a plant commitment from 2017. This is not much cheaper, however, but it makes more sense for CEO Rupert Stadler: "We are fighting the race for the future electrically. If our production cars become more and more electric, our race cars, as the technological spearhead, must be even more so." Formula E fits in with the strategy of offering purely battery-electric models every year from 2018.
What will happen to Marcel Fässler in the future?
Of the six factory drivers engaged in endurance racing, Lucas di Grassi and Loïc Duval already have plenty of Formula E experience. They are likely to form the Audi factory team from 2017. As Marcel Fässler is still fit and hungry enough, he won't hang up his helmet yet at the age of 40. It's quite conceivable that the man from Schwyz, who won three times with Audi at Le Mans (2011, 2012 and 2014) and was World Champion in 2012 and is also an excellent GT driver, will continue to work for the factory-supported Audi customer teams in GT3 endurance races. In addition to that - or just still - he could continue to drive for Corvette Racing. As third man, he already strengthened the US team this year. At the 24 h Daytona and 12 h Sebring he took victory in the highly competitive GT class and four weeks ago he scored third place at "Petit Le Mans," the 1000-mile race at Road Atlanta.
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