According to reports in the German publication Motorsport-Total.com, Audi is considering closing its Audi Sport Customer Racing department at the end of the 2023 season.
Audi Sport Customer Racing is responsible for the development and build of the Audi RS3 LMS TCR touring car, along with the marque’s GT2, GT3 and GT4 R8 LMS programmes.
With Audi having announced plans to enter into single-seater racing in 2026 with an entry into Formula One, it means the brand is continuing to close down other motorsport programmes.
Audi withdrew from the DTM at the end of the 2020 season, throwing the series into turmoil, and it withdrew from Formula E at the end of 2021. The manufacturer also abruptly withdrew support for its LMDh Sportscar programme in 2022.
The restructure comes after new Audi CEO Markus Duesmann – who is a vocally keen F1 proponent – took over at the helm of the company in 2020.
For the moment, Audi’s Dakar rally raid programme is reported to be unaffected.
Audi Sport Customer Racing has seen several changes at the head of its department in recent years. Julius Seebach led the department, which employs 80 people, from December 2020 to August 2022, and was succeeded by Rolf Michl, who has seemingly been unable to prevent the closure of Audi’s customer racing activities.
A spokesperson told Motorsport-Total.com: “The motorsport program in customer racing for 2023 has been decided and will also be carried out as follows: 24 Hours of Nürburgring, 24 Hours of Spa, GT World Challenge, TCR World Tour, DTM.
“We are currently discussing the further development of customer racing and the Dakar project. As soon as decisions have been made, we will inform our teams and partners.”