With this recurring column, ooooIYKYK aims to summarize activities of Audi racing campaigns and competition endeavors. Intended as a weekly fixture, the idea is to provide brief updates of results, preparation, happenings and rumors pertaining to on track activities.
OPEN WHEEL RACING – F1
We’re ramping up to the final season prior to Audi F1’s arrival, meaning this year will be a mix of updates from the Sauber F1 team as it exists today, activities of Audi’s preparation for its arrival, and other relevant news.
Sauber at F1 Pre-Season Test, Sakhir Bahrain
Team: Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber
Series: Formula 1
Drivers: Niko Hulkenberg & Gabriel Bortoleto
Circuit: Bahrain International Circuit / 5.412 km
Car: Sauber C45
The first official on-track activities of the 2025 F1 season didn’t take place this week, but recently enough that we’re going to include them here. Several days of official testing for all the seasons gave the Sauber crew and their two new drivers their first real opportunity to operate on track together.
For F1 veteran Nico Hulkenberg, the main focus was to get acquainted with his new team and the Sauber C45 F1 racecar. For Gabriel Bortoleto, the learning curve is a bit more extreme. Though the reigning F2 champion is hardly new to open wheel racing, he’s still an F1 rookie at the beginning of his journey with a team juggling coming off of an uncompetitive season where they finished last in the constructor’s championship while at the same time preparing for next season with a brand new car, including new engine, new chassis, and full-on manufacturer backing by a brand historically dominant in whatever form of motorsport it decides to tackle.
Ahead of the event, Sauber revealed the design of its 2025 entry known as C45, launched at the Q2 Arena in London. The new car continues the bold green and black livery theme from 2021. This is consistent with the team’s title sponsorship deal to be called the “Stake F1 Team” for the bridge years between the end of the Alfa Romeo assocation and the beginning of Audi F1 in 2026.
Audi F1 to Open UK Technical Center in Prep for 2026 Season
Team: Audi F1
As the countdown for an Audi factory team on the grid for F1 closes to under a year, the team has confirmed it will open a Technical Center in the UK. The Audi-owned Sauber Group is located in Hinwil, Switzerland and Audi will build engines out of its own facility in Neuburg an der Donau, Germany, which notably aren’t the UK.
Why is the UK so important? No less than seven of F1’s ten teams are based in a region of the UK known as “Motorsport Valley”. Such a clustering means the pool of talent and concentration of suppliers are frankly undeniable. While Audi could choose to forge ahead without this critical UK presence, the statistics indicate that competitive and dominant teams tend to share this quality. If Audi wants to maximize on its F1 investment and ramp into a dominant team, the move was likely necessary.
“We are excited to establish our technical center in the UK to complement our key site in Hinwil, which will continue to lead our main engineering operations and experience the largest team growth,” COO and CTO Mattia Binotto said.
“Expanding into the UK allows us to remain close to one of the world’s most dynamic motorsport ecosystems. Our vision is to create a strong, collaborative network across Hinwil and the UK, driving innovation and performance.” commented COO and CTO Mattia Binotto.
SPORTSCAR RACING – GT3 Customer Racing
Driver Change for Ski Autosports R8 LMS GT3 Program ahead of 2025 Season
Team: Ski Autosports
Series: GT America
Driver: Memo Gidley
Car: R8 LMS GT3 Evo II
As Ski Autosports heads towards the 2025 series opening rounds at Sonoma Raceway at the later this month, it’s also preparing for a driver change. 2023 Driver’s Champion Memo Gidley steps into the team’s Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II as Johnny O’Connell departs. For Ski Autosports, the aim will be to repeat last year’s championship title with a new driver who’s not familiar with winning the title.
“I haven’t driven the Audi before, but I think the R8 will probably feel a lot like many of the rear-engine cars that I have driven in the past. When I raced against SKI Autosports back in 2023, it seemed like the Audi was really good in tight corners and very nimble, but I’m just looking forward to seeing what it feels like and just finding out where the edge is,” he stated in a team press release.
Saintéloc Racing Return with Audi R8 LMS Program for International GT Open
Team: Saintéloc Racing
Series: International GT Open
Drivers: Michaël Blanchemain, Second Driver TBD
Car: R8 LMS GT3 Evo II
Veteran Audi racing team Saintéloc will return for 2025 with their R8 LMS GT3 Evo II sporting a fresh livery that blends the familiar Audi Sport customer racing graphic with the French tri-colore hues of red, white and blue. The #27 entry will be driven by Michaël Blanchemain who started with the team at last year’s Monza round, while a second driver is yet to be confirmed.
RALLY
2022 Audi RS Q e-tron with Dakar Provenance Found Abandoned in Czech Dump
Series: FIA World Rally Raid
Car: RS Q e-tron (2022 specification)
In a puzzling turn of events, one of Audi Sport’s early spec RS Q e-tron rally raid cars built to compete in the 2022 Dakar Rally that was part of the FIA Rally Raid Championship has been discovered in an illegal rubbish dump in Jiríkov, Czechia.
The rally car was discovered alongside piles of other environmental equipment intended for proper recycling. The mix of waste is confirmed to have originated from Roth International, a German recycling firm Roth International. The associated certification paperwork listed “pure plastic” as the contents, though the actual materials found reportedly included pieces of wind turbines, aircraft, car parts, circuit boards and copper wires in addition to the Audi rally raid car.
The RS Q e-tron in question, reportedly having a multi-million dollar value at least in race ready form, contested Audi’s inaugural attempt at the 2022 Dakar Rally where it finished ninth and even won a race stage. It was driven by Mattias Ekström. Audi didn’t win outright in 2022, though did manage an overall victory in 2024 with driver Carlos Sainz.
Audi has confirmed that Roth International is one of the companies it uses to outsource material recycling. A company representative also confirmed the car had been abandoned in Czechia and that Ingolstadt has launched an internal investigation into how one of its motorsport collection could have ended up in such conditions.
The story, found here in Forbes.com, also goes on to detail Audi’s code of conduct for adherence to regulations.
“In general, Audi does not tolerate violations of environmental and social standards – this applies to the entire supply chain.
“For AUDI AG, compliance with the law and regulations is a high priority in all business relationships worldwide. These are anchored, among other things, in the Audi Code of Conduct. Anyone who wants to work with Audi must adhere to these guiding principles.”
Read more details on this story on Forbes.com.
PHOTO DETAILS & CREDIT
Header, Mix of Audi Sport Racecars: source Audi AG
Sauber C45 F1 Car: source Sauber Group
Audi Sport F1 Car with Executives: source Audi AG
SKI Autosports Audi R8 LMS: source Audi AG
Memo Gidley: source Ski Autosports
Saintéloc Racing Audi R8 LMS: source Saintéloc Racing
Audi RS Q e-tron Car: source Audi AG