Audi opts for electric racing future

Audi is ending its 30-year involvement in the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) to concentrate on electric motorsport.

The German carmaker says the move is in line with its goal of becoming a carbon-neutral vehicle manufacturer.

It plans for EVs and plug-in hybrids to make up 40% of its sales by 2025.

It says the 2020 DTM will be its last as a works team, and it will focus on Formula E – in which it has been involved since 2014 – and on supporting privateer teams running Audis.

It is also investigating “other progressive motorsport formats.”

“Audi has shaped the DTM and the DTM has shaped Audi,” says the company chairman, Markus Duesmann. “This demonstrates what power lies in motorsport – technologically and emotionally.”

Audis have won 23 DTM championship titles, including 11 drivers’ titles, 114 victories, 345 podium finishes, 106 pole positions and 112 fastest laps.