Audi Quattro S1 – Walter Röhrl – Face – Pikes Peak 1987. Limited edition

Audi Quattro S1

In 1987 Audi brought the “Kurzen” back to the racetrack. And in the most powerful version ever built by Audi. The Audi Sport quattro E2 Pikes Peak was to write motorsport history with Walter Röhrl. This model is a Sport quattro E2 modified especially for the Pikes Peak race. This vehicle is the same E2 (with some mechanical and aerodynamic changes) as the one used by Bobby Unser Sr, a year earlier. The engine also got some extra power. According to Audi, Walter Röhrl now had 598 hp. Röhrl participated in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado (USA) with this vehicle. He only used it for those two Pikes Peak races.

Externally, this vehicle differs from the E2 by its imposing front and rear spoilers (the latest E2 models had an equivalent rear spoiler). These fins allow maximum downforce to be obtained, especially at the front, as the engine develops 598 hp and the car tends to pitch up. This race takes place on a path and not on asphalt, which is also inclined. The support conditions are thus specific to this race, where many vehicles are equipped with imposing fins.

Internally, the car has been lightened as much as possible (the doors are in fibreglass). The engine develops 598 hp for a torque of 670 N m at 5500 rpm, against 476 hp for a basic E2. This power is used to provide significant power and pick-up.

In 1982, an Audi quattro was given to John Buffum of Audi of America to lead the first campaign. He won twice, in 1982 and 1983, in the Open Rally division.

In 1984, Michèle Mouton was entrusted with a quattro. She took the lead in her category but did not manage to impose herself in the general classification; she takes second place on the podium. The Americans lavished encouragement on him and offered him to return the following year. She again attacked the track record in 1985. In practice, she was criticized for having warmed up her tires before setting off, as is customary in rallying. She signs the best times of the tests.

On race day, she started last (best practice) in her Sport quattro and won the race, setting a new record of 11:25:39, bettering the previous time by 13 seconds. Michèle Mouton thus established a triple performance: track record, 1st victory for a non-American in this competition and 1st victory for a female driver.

Audi, for the following campaign in 1986, entrusted its car to the American Bobby Unser, already 8 times winner of this event and 3 times winner of the Indianapolis 500 miles. Aboard the Sport quattro E2, he took the victory as well as the climb record in 11 min 09 s 22, 16 seconds less than Michèle Mouton the previous year.

But in 1987 the competition will be particularly strong. Finally, Walter Röhrl won with a 7-second lead over his strongest competitor, Ari Vatanen, at the wheel of a Peugeot 205 T16 E2, which had a technical breakdown just before the finish line. Röhrl was also the first runner to win at Pikes Peak in less than 11 minutes. He set a new course record in 10 minutes and 47.85 seconds. To date, this record has not been broken by any other front-engine vehicle.

After this hill climb and a few half-hearted attempts with the Audi 200 quattro, Audi withdrew from rallying and shortly after concentrated on circuit racing.

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