Audi S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron to tackle the hillclimb
Racing legend Tom Kristensen will take to the wheel
Dakar racer RS Q e-tron to make UK debut
Trio of Le Mans 24hrs icons - R8, R10 and R18 - mark 100 years of the race
Hannu Mikkola’s quattro rally cars to be driven by his sons Juha and Vesa
Audi will celebrate its achievements in motorsport at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed with an eclectic mix of iconic vehicles. Audi’s headline act, the S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron, will make its UK debut and tackle the famous Goodwood hillclimb with Le Mans racing legend Tom Kristensen behind the wheel. At the same time, Audi will mark 100 year of Le Mans with the dynamic display of three iconic LMP cars: R8, R10 TDI and R18 e-tron quattro.
“Audi and Goodwood both have motorsport at their heart, so being able to showcase icons from our past alongside Audi Sport’s latest creations at this year’s Festival of Speed will be a special occasion,” commented Director Audi UK Andrew Doyle. “Success at the Dakar Rally is our current focus before we turn our attention to the pinnacle of motorsport and Formula 1 in 2026. Both disciplines will go a significant way to strengthen our motorsport pedigree."
Audi S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron
Designed and developed for motorsport legend Ken Block, who tragically passed away earlier this year, the Audi S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron is a one-of-a-kind, all-electric racer. Inspired by the legendary Audi Sport quattro S1 from the nineteen-eighties, the modern-day interpretation was developed at Audi Sport’s headquarters in Neckarsulm and created by Head of Design Marc Lichte and his team. Under the skin, the S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron is based around a carbon fibre chassis and powered by two motor-generator units – one on each axle. As the electric motors reach maximum speeds of 28,000rpm, the engineering team defined a gear ratio of about 12:1 to enable high-speed drifts. Taking losses into account, this results in around 3,000 Nm of torque on each axle, or 6,000 Nm in total.
Tom Kristensen, six-time Le Mans winner and Audi ambassador, will tackle the Goodwood hillclimb in the S1 e-tron quattro hoonitron.
Audi RS Q e-tron
Audi is taking on the world’s most challenging race, the Dakar Rally, with an equally ambitious and innovative concept: the RS Q e-tron. The drivetrain of the desert racer is electric; the front and rear axles are both fitted with a motor-generator unit (MGU), like those on the Audi e-tron FE07 Formula E car, while a third MGU is part of the energy converter and serves to recharge the high-voltage battery while driving.
Audi R8
At its debut at Le Mans in 1999, Audi secured a podium finish with the R8. In the years that followed, from 2000 to 2002, Audi achieved a historic hat-trick, thanks in part to TFSI technology, which was first used in 2001 and later found its way into series production. In 2004 and 2005, customer teams clinched two further overall victories for Audi at Le Mans.
Audi R10 TDI
In 2006, Audi was the first factory team to enter a car at Le Mans powered by a diesel engine. A 5.5-litre V12 TDI engine sat at the heart of the R10 TDI and opened up a new chapter in Audi’s motorsport history. Key to the car’s success was its comparatively low fuel consumption relative to the competition and vast reserves of torque, at around 1,100Nm, developed by the powerful diesel engine. The R10 TDI clinched overall victories at Le Mans in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Audi R18 e-tron quattro
Another revolutionary step in Audi’s motorsport history was the introduction of diesel-hybrid technology in 2012 with the R18 e-tron quattro. A downsized 3.7-litre V6 diesel engine powered the front axle and electric drive propelled the front axle on demand. Increased speed, better efficiency and enhanced overall performance led Audi to secure a historic 1-2-3 finish at Le Mans in 2012.
Audi quattro Gr. 4 Rally Portugal
The car that is widely considered to have revolutionised rallying, the Audi quattro. Initially homologated to compete in the Group 4 classification of international rally sport, the very car on display at Goodwood was raced by Hannu Mikkkola at the 1981 Urbibel Algarve Rally in Portugal. It won 24 of the 30 special trials and set the best time.
Audi 200 quattro Rally Safari
As the sun was beginning to set on Audi’s involvement in the world of rallying, its first success at the East African Safari Rally was secured in 1987 with the 200 quattro. Powered by the famous 2.1-litre five-cylinder engine it developed 250ps and 350Nm of torque, which was sent to the road via six-speed manual gearbox and quattro all-wheel drive. It was in 1897 the World Rally Championship was limited to Gorup A cars like the 200 quattro.
