Both Daniel Abt and the reigning Champion Lucas di Grassi spend a whole day practicing in the simulator at Audi Sport in Neuburg. In a Formula E chassis, surrounded by monitors with a 360-degree view and equipped with headphones and microphones, the race drivers drive the qualifying session and the race on the track in Marrakesh.

“These intensive practice sessions are the key to success because the simulation is very realistic,” says Daniel Abt. Based on FIA data, the experts emulate the circuit on the computer in every detail – including curbs, possible vertical differences and climatic conditions. “As drivers we then have the opportunity to get to know the track and to try out various lines without any loss of practice time on race day which is short to begin with,” says Abt.

The preparation day in the simulator often lasts eight hours or more and not only serves the race drivers to prepare. “During this time, our engineers can gather a lot of important data, optimize energy management, test various software versions and simulate the process flow on a race day,” says Tristan Summerscale, Formula E Project Leader at Audi. “We’re well prepared when we hit the race track and are able to respond to new situations with greater flexibility, speed and ease.” 

In spite of a certain similarity to simulator games, Daniel Abt rejects any comparison with a laugh: “One is for fun and the other is real work that all of us have to do with high concentration – even if it falls in the middle of the Christmas season.” A commitment that pays off: With 24 podium results to their credit, Abt and di Grassi have been the most successful duo in Formula E to date. This success is to be continued – in Marrakesh on January 13.

Article source: www.audi-mediacenter.com

Stephan Winkelmann, CEO of Audi Sport GmbH, and Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing, personally welcomed the customers at Audi’s Neuburg location. Five race cars went to customers from the USA and two each to customers from Asia, to Team Bourguignon from the Netherlands, to Phoenix Racing from Germany and one to an Australian customer.

“A new project always symbolizes new beginnings. The first deliveries mark a special moment for our customers as well as for us. We wish the teams the best of success with the new Audi R8 LMS GT4,” says Chris Reinke. The race car delivers up to 364 kW (495 hp) and has been directly derived from the production model. It shares 60 percent of the assemblies with its road-approved “brother,” and, like the road-going car, is built at the Böllinger Höfe site. The GT4 category in North America, Europe and Asia has become an established element as an overall classification or class in more than 15 racing series and major individual events. Additionally, from 2018 on, the new GT4 model will be fielded in the Audi R8 LMS Cup. 

Audi has successfully tested the R8 LMS GT4 this year on several occasions, including the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring and in the VLN Endurance Championship. Now the first purely private racing commitments of the Audi R8 LMS GT4 are coming up when Phoenix Racing contests the Dubai 24 Hours with two cars from January 12 to 13, 2018. Two weeks later, the season of the North American IMSA series will kick off at Daytona. On the first weekend in February, customers are going to contest the Bathurst 12 Hour before the Audi R8 LMS Cup starts its seventh season in March.

In addition to the Audi R8 LMS GT3 for top-flight racing and the Audi RS 3 LMS entry-level touring car, the Audi R8 LMS GT4 is Audi Sport customer racing’s third model. 

Article source: www.audi-mediacenter.com

“The transformation of Audi into a premium digital car company is also changing the way we work,” stated Joachim Kraege, Head of Organization and Consulting at AUDI AG. “In addition to graduates in engineering and business management, IT experts are increasingly influencing our corporate culture. This is why we have now for the first time analyzed in detail what drives and interests young specialists in this field and what they would like Audi to offer as an employer.” 

For this survey, Audi polled almost 5,000 members of “Generation Z” (born in or after 1995) and “Generation Y” (1980 to 1994). The company mainly surveyed its own employees, trainees, bachelors and masters students, persons on dual courses of study, and interns. Responses from almost 900 external students were also included in the study. In a separate evaluation, a comparison was made of the information received from students and graduates in IT, engineering and business management. 

The results show that far fewer young IT experts than engineering and business-management graduates plan to pursue a career in management. While 41 percent of the surveyed business-management specialists and 39 percent of the engineers look forward to a traditional management career with the associated responsibility, the proportion for informatics students and graduates is only 32 percent. 

However, the desire for highly flexible working models is particularly strong among the Generation Y and Z IT experts. Unlike the other groups, they place much less importance on clearly separating their working and private lives. 43 percent of the surveyed IT specialists would like to have completely flexible working times, including evenings and weekends for example. This is attractive for only 29 percent of the business management specialists and 30 percent of the engineers. 

This survey will help Audi with the further development of its working models and the results will be used in various future projects of the Human Resources department. In many areas, the changes desired by the young IT experts are already underway. With regard to mobile working for example, the company has offered its employees the possibility to work independently of location and time of day since 2016. Mobile work is possible in different places, both for full days or several hours at a time. 

Audi also offers its young talent exciting career prospects beyond the traditional path into management. For example, employees can enter management along a specialist path without having leadership responsibility. Audi recently revised its personnel selection and development for management together with the VW Group, so employees now have more individual responsibility. The focus is not only on the working context, but also on the candidates’ varied activities and the personal development. 

Audi continues to seek experts for its future fields of digitization and electric mobility. Students can get to know the company through internships and dissertation placements, and many entry programs are available to university graduates. More information on career opportunities at Audi can be found at www.audi.com/careers. 

Article source: www.audi-mediacenter.com

The sport exterior package features an aluminum clip below the wide, upright Singleframe grille, exclusively for the Audi A8. It helps the brand’s flagship model achieve an even more powerful visual impact. Clear contours surround the air inlets, while honeycomb grilles and a vertical strut define their inner structure. The side sills become wider as they approach the wheels – a clear reference to the Audi A8’s quattro drive as standard.

The redesigned rear bumper integrates a rhombus-grille insert and a clearly contrasting diffuser. Down the sides and at the rear, an aluminum strip echoes the design of the front splitter and serves as the body’s lower edging. Customers in Germany and other European markets can order the sport exterior package from the end of January at a price of EUR 1,950 for the Audi A8 50 TDI (combined fuel consumption in l/100 km:5.8 – 5.6*; combined CO2 emissions in g/km: 152 – 145*). Its launch also marks the introduction of the exterior color Daytona gray for the luxury sedan. 

Inside the car, customers will also be able to set more accents from the end of January: In a first for the Audi A8, the new sport seats feature optically integrated head restraints which, as previously, come with electric height adjustment. The seats also adopt the technical highlights of the comfort customized contour seats complete with pneumatic seat and backrest side bolster adjustment. The latter are about 15 millimeters (0.6 in) more deeply contoured. Other advantages include the climate control and massage function, plus the comfort center armrest at the front.

There is impressive evidence of the flagship model’s exceptional quality standards in the rhombus pattern of the new sport seat with square perforations and embossed S logos towards the top of the backrest. For the upholstery, customers can choose from the top leather grades Valcona and unicum – the latter exclusively in nutmeg brown with tourmaline blue stitching. In addition to the five basic colors, Valcona leather is also available in sard brown with steel gray contrasting stitching. and in metropolis gray with tourmaline blue stitching. For a particularly elegant look, there is the new “design selection” pastel silver with contrasting stitching and piping in granite gray. The sport seats can be ordered for all engine versions and both body versions. They cost EUR 4,520. 

The new Audi A8 and the A8 L (combined fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.0 – 5.6*; combined CO2 emissions in g/km: 182 – 145*) are built at the Neckarsulm site and have been on sale at dealers in Europe since the end of November. The base price for the sedan with standard wheelbase is EUR 90,600, with the A8 L starting at EUR 94,100.

Article source: www.audi-mediacenter.com