In another move to show commitment to its motorsport programme, Audi has complemented the program of its Audi driving experience by a project for young drivers in motorsport. Called the Audi Sport racing academy, it motivates talented youngsters in the sport with assistance by mentors from the brand’s professional squad. The programme lasts for two years with the aim of getting the participants to become professional race drivers themselves.
The Audi Sport racing academy promotes up to six talents per year. In Academy Meetings focused on specific topics, Audi offers the talents individual training programs including driver training sessions on ice and provides them with advice on athletic activities and nutrition. In addition, the instructors familiarise the youngsters with the technology of the race cars and impart appropriate ways of dealing with media, sponsors and the general public to them.
Race drivers Pierre Kaffer and Rahel Frey together with coordinator Sepp Haider support the young drivers as coaches. The young drivers develop their driving style at the Audi driving experience centre in Neuburg an der Donau, the Driving Centre Groß Dölln, on various European race tracks, and during ice training sessions in Finland and Sweden. Audi’s current RS and R models are the main cars used for training. The Audi TT cup and Audi R8 LMS race cars complement the line-up.
Audi has already selected the first three candidates for the talent promotion program: Vivien Keszthelyi from Hungary, the South African Sheldon van der Linde, and Nicklas Nielsen from Denmark.
As it is, 15-year old Vivien Keszthelyi attends all the Academy meetings focussed onspecific topics. The other two, on the other hand participates in the 2016 Audi Sport TT Cup. Depending on their performance and talent, they can expect to be given the opportunity to race in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 championship for the 2017 season.
The objective is to train the candidates with a maximum age of 25 successfully enough to consider them in driver evaluations. These are the processes in which Audi Sport customer racing selects its drivers for GT racing and Audi Sport its drivers for the factory-backed programs in the DTM and FIA WEC.
