LMP cars, rally cars, and the freaking Hoonitron. Be there.
Audi is celebrating 100 years of motorsport successes at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed. It's bringing a whole parade of racecars like the R8, R10, and R18 to show off, but the main event is the UK debut of the S1 Hoonitron, formerly piloted by the late Ken Block, which will tackle the hillclimb. The company is also going to be showing off the RS Q e-tron concept that will enter the Dakar Rally with hopes of conquering the toughest race in the world with purely electric power.
Goodwood appears to be the premiere event this year to show off and celebrate your success. Aston Martin is coming out swinging, bringing a whole bunch of vehicles to celebrate its 110th anniversary; BMW is bringing hydrogen concepts and M cars galore, and Bentley is celebrating the W12 engine before it disappears from this world. Not to mention, it's the 75th anniversary of Goodwood itself, so really everything is being celebrated.
“Audi and Goodwood both have motorsport at their heart, so being able to showcase icons from our past alongside Audi Sport's latest creations at this year's Festival of Speed will be a special occasion,” commented Director Audi UK Andrew Doyle. “Success at the Dakar Rally is our current focus before we turn our attention to the pinnacle of motorsport and Formula 1 in 2026. Both disciplines will go a significant way to strengthen our motorsport pedigree.”
The real head turner is the Hoonitron that the brand will be rocketing up the hill. The vehicle, which was another incredible Ken Block collaboration before he tragically passed earlier this year, is a one-of-a-kind, with an electric motor on each axle producing insane power, and a crazy gear ratio of about 12:1 allows this thing to just cook tires at insane speeds. It will be driven by six-time Le Mans winner and Audi ambassador Tom Kristensen, so we expect it to produce an impressive time.
The rest of the cars are just there for fun, though we imagine they'll do some runs up the hill as well. The RS Q e-tron concept will be incredible to see in person, and it looks downright intimidating, bathed in black and red with the coolest Audi graphics. It uses a motor-generator unit on each axle while including another on the energy converter that helps recharge the battery while driving.
Then the R8, R10 TDI, and R18 e-tron quattro will be showing their faces. These LMP cars all have Le Mans podium finishes or outright victories, dating back to 1999 in the case of the R8 and 2012 with the R18. Going from a normal gas-powered vehicle like the R8 to a 5.5 liter V12 TDI in the R10 and then to a diesel-hybrid in the R18 is downright crazy. Too bad VW had to go muck the whole diesel thing up.
Finally, the company is bringing two other vehicles: the Audi Quattro Gr. 4 Rally Portugal and the Audi 200 Quattro Rally Safari. The first car is a rallying legend that was raced by Hannou Mikkkola at the 1981 Urbibel Algarve Rally in Portugal, where it set the best time, and the second was a Group A rallying beast that helped to secure the brand's first win at the East African Safari Rally.
As Audi has said, it wants everyone to start getting excited about its motorsports as it gears up for its entrance into F1 in a few years. The company wants to come out swinging, and if its history is anything to go off of, we think it'll be a debut to remember.
Keyword: Audi Is Bringing Hoonitron And Other Racecars To Goodwood