Wolfgang Ullrich, (born August 27, 1950 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

) is the former Head of Audi Motorsport, the sporting division of German automaker

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...

since November 1993. Under his leadership, Audi won the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

thirteen times: 2000-2002, 2004–2008, and 2010-2014.

Education

He studied for his degree in Vienna in automotive engineering. Ullrich is Doctor of Technical Sciences.

Early life

After graduation he joined

Steyr-Daimler-Puch Steyr-Daimler-Puch () was a large manufacturing conglomerate based in Steyr, Austria, which was broken up in stages between 1987 and 2001. The component parts and operations continued to exist under separate ownership and new names. History T ...

, but wishing to work in motorsport, he was contacted by

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

Sport offering a job with their F1 team. Shortly after, Renault Sport withdrew its offer because of budgetary restrictions imposed by the parent company. He ended up joining

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

to work on the TAG engine project, and after the withdrawal of the German manufacturer from F1 in late 1987, he went on to work on production engines. In the fall of 1993, when he worked at

Gillet Gillet is a Belgian automobile manufacturer, started in 1992 by former racing driver Tony Gillet. The company produces the Vertigo sports coupé, an ultra-lightweight (990 kg) 'bespoke' and hand-built sportscar. The slogan of the company i ...

, he was contacted by Herbert Demel, a former university colleague and director of the competition department of Audi, Audi Sport, who asked him if he wanted to replace him in office to which he immediately agreed.

Sport boss at Audi

Since 1993 Ullrich has been the head of sports and special developments for Audi. In this role he is responsible for many different projects of Audi Sport, such as regulating the Audi A4 Super Touring, the Le Mans prototype

Audi R18 The Audi R18 is a Le Mans Prototype (LMP) racing car constructed by the German car manufacturer Audi AG. It is the successor to the Audi R15 TDI. Like its predecessor, the R18 uses a TDI turbocharged diesel engine but with a reduced capacity of ...

, the

Audi RS5 DTM The Audi 5 Series DTM (also known as the Audi A5 DTM (2012) later Audi RS5 DTM (2013-2018)) is a touring car constructed by the German car manufacturer Audi AG for use in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. It was developed in 2011 and has been race ...

and the development of the diesel hybrid engine. Since 2009 he has been responsible for the development and expansion of the customer sport with the

Audi R8 LMS The Audi R8 is a mid-engine, 2-seater sports car, which uses Audi's trademark quattro permanent all-wheel drive system. It was introduced by the German car manufacturer Audi AG in 2006. The car is exclusively designed, developed, and manufactu ...

. In November 2015, Ullrich was given a contract extension that will allow him to remain in his post past his 67th birthday in 2017. It is company policy at the Volkswagen Group that all employees, save top echelon of senior management, must retire at 65. Since Ullrich took over as head of Audi Sport in November 1993, he has overseen its various successes in

Super Touring Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II was a motor racing Touring Cars category defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for national touring car racing in 1993. It was based on the "2 litre Touring Car Formula" created ...

, 13 victories at the

, as well as seven

DTM DTM may refer to: Sport * Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, a motor-racing series staged annually in Germany since 2000 * Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, a motor-racing championship staged in Germany from 1984 to 1995 Computing * Deterministic T ...

driver's titles and four DTM constructors titles.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ullrich, Wolfgang 1950 births Living people Audi people