Legendary Audi racer Frank Biela will be reunited with the A4 SuperTourer at Knockhill’s SuperTouring Festival.

Legendary Audi racer Frank Biela will be reunited with game-changing A4 SuperTourer at Knockhill’s SuperTouring Festival this weekend

• Audi race ace Frank Biela to be guest of honour at Scotland’s Knockhill Circuit for celebration of touring car racing on September 11
• Biela will reacquaint himself with all-conquering A4 quattro SuperTourer on the circuit where he won and set the fastest race lap for Audi in the BTCC twenty years ago
• Dominance of A4 quattro SuperTourer in 1996 season led to further weight penalties in 1997 and an eventual ban on all-wheel-drive from 1998
• Thoroughbred touring cars from the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties will go toe-to-toe in STCC finale during the weekend

Twenty years after he drove the governing body of the British Touring Car Championship to distraction with his all-conquering Audi A4 quattro SuperTourer, racing legend Frank Biela is to be reunited with the outlawed all-wheel-drive sidekick at this weekend‘s David Leslie SuperTouring Festival.

The 52-year-old, who can reflect on five Le Mans 24-hour wins and a host of Touring Car race victories in international championships, will be the guest of honour at  the evocative festival, which will bring legendary Touring Cars from across the decades to Scotland’s famous Knockhill Circuit.

At the Knockhill round of the 1996 BTCC, Biela recorded the fastest lap in his A4 quattro SuperTourer, and went on to win one of the two races staged that weekend. That year he contributed six further fastest lap times to the total of eight achieved by the A4 in the 26-race series, and took pole on no less than six occasions. Eight race wins secured the Drivers’ Championship title for his heroic efforts and, ably assisted by his team-mate John Bintcliffe, the Manufacturers’ Championship title for Audi.

Versus a field of front-wheel-driven competitors, the A4 SuperTouring with its game-changing Audi quattro all-wheel-drive technology undoubtedly held the trump card. In all, the A4 quattro SuperTouring entered seven national championships on three continents in 1996 – and won them all.  

As a result, the configuration that was believed to have facilitated the  virtual whitewash by Biela and Bintcliffe in the BTCC was taken to task by the championship organisers. They imposed various weight penalties on the car for the 1997 season, and this encumbrance meant that Biela initially struggled to make headway in the series that year. Midway through the race calendar, however, the weight penalty was halved, and Biela was again given his head, fighting back to take second place overall in the Drivers’ Championship, and helping Audi to achieve second place overall. In 1998, all-wheel drive was largely banished from European touring car competition.

Audi UK is proud to number an A4 quattro SuperTourer among the many cherished gems in its Heritage Fleet, and this car will be on static display at Knockhill, as will an Audi 80 GLE replica car in Stirling Moss colours which campaigned in the 1980 British Saloon Car Championship. Mr Biela will, however, have ample opportunity to take a blast down memory lane in the 296PS, 2.0-litre A4 thanks to a private owner who has kindly entrusted his ex-Audi Sport car to the German race ace for parade laps of the circuit.

Biela’s evocative sortie will be one highlight of what promises to be an exceptional spectacle for fans of Touring Car racing. The Historic Sports Car Club will also be staging the thrilling finale of its Super Touring Car Championship as part of the event, bringing thoroughbred Touring Cars from the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties back to the grid for classic bumper-to-bumper racing in the best traditions of this much-loved competition format.

The legacy and dominance of quattro in the SuperTouring championship and a multitude of other motorsport disciplines from the 1980s to the present day continues to drive unwavering demand for the legendary all-wheel drive system. 

Today, a quattro variant is available to order in every single one of the 13 Audi model silhouettes and a third of all Audi road cars sold in the UK are equipped with quattro all-wheel drive, comfortably ahead of the German premium competition.

Felix Baumgartner to drive AUDI R8 at Nurburgring 24 hour.

• Austrian extreme athlete starts racing career

• Audi race experience as seasoned campaign team
• Le Mans winners as prominent team-mates

Following his stratosphere jump in 2012, extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner is tackling his next big challenge on the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring. The Austrian will obtain a racing license and become a race driver with the Audi race experience team on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. 

The Audi race experience makes it possible for Audi’s customers with sporting ambitions to enter racing. But never before has the program, which the Audi driving experience has been running since 2010, had as prominent a driver as this one. “It’s fantastic that we’re cooperating with Felix Baumgartner this year,” says Klaus Demel, the head of the Audi driving experience. “As an extreme athlete, Felix Baumgartner has been thrilling millions of fans around the world with his daring actions that combine ingenuity and exceptional technical demands. Now we’re familiarizing him with our sport, offer him a professional environment with our team, and are very excited about this new, joint challenge.” 

As a guest entrant, Baumgartner has been gathering some racing experience in recent years during occasional runs in the one-make cups of the Volkswagen Group. The big difference in the 2014 season: the Audi R8 LMS ultra provides him with a 419 kW (570 hp) ‘pure-bred’ GT3 race car. The 44-year-old is completing an extensive preparation program before competing in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring on June 21/22, 2014. His team-mates are equally prominent: The five-time Le Mans winner Frank Biela (D), the three-time Le Mans winner Marco Werner (D) as well as the GT and sports car pro Pierre Kaffer (D) will be his colleagues in the cockpit.

 “This task is totally exciting and I’m looking forward to driving races in an Audi,” says Felix Baumgartner. “During initial tests in the road-going Audi R8 I got to know the Nürburgring, and in the Audi R8 LMS ultra I’ve clocked a few kilometres on various tracks as well. I regard this task as one of the major projects in my life. The environment is perfect, the atmosphere is fantastic, and I feel really well taken care of by the Audi race experience. But it’s also clear that I’m basically starting from scratch because this sport is new for me.”

Former professional rally driver Josef ‘Sepp’ Haider, now the Audi race experience’s sporting director, is one of the instructors of his Austrian compatriot. “Felix is approaching his new task in exactly the manner that is the hallmark of a pro,” says Haider. “He’s eager to learn, has good judgment of the physical conditions, and is totally motivated. All team members have come to respect him in the initial tests. I’m very much looking forward to our joint journey.”

The team will be fielding another R8 LMS ultra in the 24-hour race. The drivers of this car have already been confirmed. Already last year, Dominique Bastien (USA), Rahel Frey (CH) and Christian Bollrath (D) formed a team. Christiaan Frankenhout (NL) will be supporting the Audi race experience as a driver for the first time.

Felix Baumgartner’s 2014 Nürburgring program:

March 21–22 VLN, test and setup runs
April 05–06 Qualification race, Nürburgring 24 Hours
April 26 VLN, 56th ADAC ACAS H&R Cup
May 17 VLN, Adenauer ADAC Simfy-Trophy
June 21–22 Nürburgring 24 Hours