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Following its earlier announcement of its continued involvement in DTM and Formula E, Audi has revealed that it will be withdrawing from the World Rallycross Championship at the end of this season.
The German carmaker has been involved in the championship since 2014, when it first offered support to Mattias Ekstrom’s EKS team with its Audi S1 Supercar. Since then, Audi has stepped up its involvement, joining forces with the Swedish team as a full factory effort from last year.
Audi has emphasised it will continue to support EKS Audi Sport through to the end of the season but its motorsport boss, Dieter Gass, explained that the firm “will not take part with a factory involvement in any future rallycross. We have decided to carry on Formula E and DTM, and, at the end of the day, it’s a matter of the amount of big programs that we can afford and work on at the same time.”
The withdrawal comes as something of a surprise given Audi’s participation in the Technical Working Group’s discussions about the series’ now delayed switch to electric powertrains. Gass, however, hasn’t ruled out a return to Rallycross after it switches to electric power, noting that it was a “very interesting concept” but said that it was presently too early to make a definite decision, but he added that Audi “will keep an eye on the situation”.
