“The Motorsport Competence Center in Neuburg is an integral component of our global investment strategy,” emphasized Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg in his speech. “Motorsport is a test bed for series production and thus an important driver of technical development at AUDI AG. Here in Neuburg, we develop and test high-performance technologies to their limits – also in order to prepare them for possible applications in series production. The area of the Audi Driving Experience Center offers our motorsport team the best conditions for further success on the racetrack.”
Concerning the new home of Audi Sport, Head of Audi Sport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich stated: “Audi has been successfully involved in motorsport at the highest levels for more than three decades. Audi Sport has grown continuously since it was established in 1980 and the technical requirements have also become more demanding. The new Competence Center is a very important step for our ongoing motorsport success in the future. With the exception of engine development, which will predominantly remain in Neckarsulm, we will concentrate all our facilities in this new complex of buildings. The Competence Center also emphasizes the important that motorsport has for our company.”
Peter Mosch, Chairman of the General Works Council of AUDI AG: “This project is a clear commitment to the Ingolstadt region and contributes significantly to establishing the site even more firmly as the main plant of the Audi Group. An additional factor is that attractive jobs will be created in the rural district of Neuburg-Schrobenhausen and at the Motorsport Competence Center.”
“The substantial investment made by AUDI AG in Neuburg an der Donau is the major business news of the decade for us,” stated Dr. Bernhard Gmehling, the Mayor of Neuburg. “But providing a home for Audi Sport means even more. Because as of next year, the heart of this world-famous and successful automotive department will be beating in our neighborhood. The new Motorsport Competence Center will then be at home in our town – a former aristocratic seat – that makes us very proud in Neuburg.”
The new headquarters of Audi Sport will be located in Neuburg, which is where key motorsport units will be brought together. In the future, the motorsport team will organize and coordinate worldwide racing activities from Neuburg – on average 20 races in 12 countries each year. As of summer 2014, approximately 300 employees will develop, design and build all racing cars for motorsport in Neuburg. The new racing cars will then be tested locally in an initial rollout drive. The engines used in motorsport will continue to be sourced in Neckarsulm.
The new Motorsport complex is located in the west of the 47-hectare Audi Driving Experience Center. Four sections are being built: a workshop, a test-bench building, a warehouse/logistics hall and the representative main building with the engineering offices, which protrudes 13 meters above the northern entrance. The multifunctional buildings have been designed in line with the principle of short distances: The engineering offices are located close to the mechanics’ workshops on the same floor. Workshops close to the test track such as starting room and tank-check room are on the ground floor with direct access to the track. The store and logistics areas allow efficient handling of the race cars and of the entire spare-parts supply. All sections of the buildings are connected with passages. In total, 15,000 cubic meters of concrete and 1,800 tons of reinforcing steel were used in construction.
Audi Sport’s customer racing will also be based in the Motorsport Competence Center in the future. As of March 2015, Neuburg’s wide-ranging customer-sport involvement will be organized from Neuburg – in addition to the World Endurance Championships (WEC) and the 24 Hours of the Le Mans and DTM races.
The Audi Driving Experience Center in Neuburg will carry out a varied course of driving and safety training starting in May 2014. This will take place on a 30,000-square-meter dynamics surface, a 2.2-kilometer handling track and an off-road course. One highlight is the eight-meter-high gradient hill. Furthermore, the central customer center with its own catering will offer space for events in the future.