Audi RS3, Audi R8

Audi Showcases ‘Vorsprung Durch Technik’ Through The Ages At Goodwood

Eagerly awaited Audi model debuts, past masters and potential stars of the future congregate at annual celebration of motoring in West Sussex

  • UK debuts of the RS 3 Sportback, Q3 compact SUV, A6 Avant, R8 GT Spyder and 408PS quattro concept
  • R18 TDI sports prototype commemorates 2011 Le Mans victory in the F1 Paddock
  • Hannu Mikkola pilots S1 quattro  up the hill
  • Le Mans winners past & present Marco Werner and André Lotterer, former DTM Champion Hans-Joachim Stuck plus Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason in the driving seat

Hot-off-the-press additions to the Audi model range will vie for attention with hero cars from the brand’s past and present and potential stars of its future at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed (1-3 July). An anticipated 150,000 visitors will descend on Goodwood House near Chichester, West Sussex for this celebration of the best of motoring and motorsport through the ages, and as usual Audi will have a major presence.

Stand-out stars from the present day Audi portfolio will include the Q3 compact SUV, the 340PS RS 3 Sportback, the A6 Avant and the breathtaking 560PS R8 GT Spyder, all of which make their UK public debuts at the Festival. A potential legend-in-the-making  – the critically acclaimed lightweight aluminium, five-cylinder, 408PS quattro concept – will also be on hand to show how the revered Sport quattro of the Eighties could possibly be rocketed into the future.

On the competition front, the Audi R18 TDI sports prototype will be looming large in the F1 paddock in commemoration of the tenth victory for Audi in the 24 Hours of Le Mans marathon race earlier this month. One of the three winning drivers, Germany’s André Lotterer, will drive the innovative diesel-powered racer up the hill course at Lord March’s estate.

Another legend destined for the hill will be the 1985 Audi Sport quattro S1 rally car,  featuring the world-famous quattro all-wheel-drive technology which changed the face of rallying. One of its star drivers, Hannu Mikkola, who won the FIA World Rally Championship in a quattro in 1983, will be behind the wheel again over the weekend.

Meanwhile, Audi Tradition will also look to the past with two 1930s Auto Union “Silver Arrow” Grand Prix cars which will be piloted by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason and Audi’s 1990 German Touring Car Champion Hans-Joachim Stuck. DKW, one of the four brands which joined forces to form the Auto Union marque which eventually gave rise to Audi, will also be represented by two pre-war motorcycles: a DKW SS 250 (1937) and a DKW SS 350 (1939).