Quattro becomes Audi Sport

Audi has renamed its performance division from Audi Quattro to Audi Sport. The move has been instigated by Stephan Winkelmann, who moved from Lamborghini to head up Audi’s performance division in the spring of 2016.

‘Audi Sport better represents what we do here,’ says Winkelmann. ‘Quattro is synonymous with Audi, it’s a core component of our performance vehicles, but it is only one component that goes into our cars. Audi Sport better represents what we stand for and the cars we are building.’

Crucially the switch will also see Audi Sport more directly involved in the development of future Audi road cars, right from the start of a new car’s development programme. In the past, the subsidiary has had to wait until after the ‘regular’ cars had been signed off for production before developing its RS products.

And what does Winkelmann consider to be the epitome of Audi Sport and what its future products should look towards? The R8, naturally, and also his daily driver – as it has been since his Lamborghini days – the RS6.