100 years of Audi with rally legend Walter Röhrl

The double World Rally Champion driver Walter Röhrl is to drive exclusively for Audi Tradition in Audi’s centennial year.

Walter Röhrl, still revered today as “the greatest rally driver of all time,” will be piloting historic race cars from Audi Tradition’s collection in a total of four events in 2009, the year that celebrates “100 years of Audi."

As Thomas Frank, Head of Audi Tradition, commented; "We are delighted that Walter Röhrl will be racing his historic Audi cars again. Our thanks go in particular to Porsche AG."

Walter Röhrl, born in Regensburg, is a representative of Porsche AG and has been given special permission to appear with Audi Tradition. "I’m also really looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of the cars I drove during my time with Audi." Said Röhrl

The following appearances are planned: Goodwood Festival of Speed (July 3 to 5) in England, Heidelberg Historic (July 9 to 11), “100 years of Audi” at the Donauring (July 18) in Ingolstadt and at the Eifel Classic rally from October 1 to 3 starting at the Nürburgring.

It goes without saying that Walter Röhrl will only be getting behind the wheel of “his” cars, for example the Audi Sport quattro “Pikes Peak” for the hill climb at Goodwood.
In his heyday as an Audi works driver, Walter Röhrl drove both rally and racing cars which have long since achieved legendary status among fans. These include the Audi quattro A2, which he drove to victory in his first outing for Audi at the Monte Carlo Rally, and the “short” Audi Sport quattro.

The legendary racing driver was also the only person to win a world championship race – the 1985 San Remo Rally – in the Audi Sport quattro S1, the last generation of the Sport quattro. After Audi’s withdrawal from rallying, Walter Röhrl moved with Audi to the race tracks of the United States where he piloted the Audi 200 quattro TransAm and the Audi 90 quattro IMSA-GTO to victory.

However, the most unforgettable triumph in Walter Röhrl’s Audi career came on Pikes Peak. On the Audi Sport quattro S1’s very last outing, Röhrl smashed all records in the United States’ most famous hill climb: In a breathtaking drive, he became the first person to climb the 2,000 meters in altitude in under 11 minutes, consequently leaving his indelible mark on motorsport history.