Audi 2012 Annual Report Download - page 49

Successful
foursome: Leena
Gade with the
Le Mans winners
Marcel Fässler,
André Lotterer
(standing, from
left) and Benoît
Tréluyer.
“I certainly planned on assuming
higher-level responsibility at some
point during my career. It just happened
sooner than expected,” says Gade
about the turn in her career that means
above all one thing: much more work
than previously. Not only does she
travel to the eight races of the FIA World
Endurance Championship (FIA WEC),
which since 2012 have been held in
North and South America, Europe, the
Middle East and Eastern Asia to de -
ter
mine the FIA endurance world
champion.
She also pours a lot of work
into all the testing that takes place on
various continents. When asked how
many days and weekends she spends
on the road for Audi, she replies, “It is
better if I don’t even begin to count.”
But that is the rhythm of her life. “The
ratio of speed to relaxation is 70:30,”
she figures.
Adrenaline aside, you can sense
Gade’s enthusiasm for working in one
of the most fascinating disciplines
in racing. A discipline where she
just played a major role in its latest
milestones: first hybrid race car; first
victory for a hybrid in the 24 Hours of
Le Mans, which has been held since
1923; first title in the FIA WEC World
Championship for endurance racing,
which was first held in 2012.
Does perfectionism help to master
the complex tasks her job demands
from her? “I wish I were a perfectionist
– but I’m not,” admits Gade. “Other-
wise I would have to keep lists of the
things I notice. There is another word
that better describes my attitude: I am
obsessed.”
Gade leads her team through race
weekends. As the race engineer respon-
sible for the No. 1 Audi R18 e-tron
quattro, she is the crew’s lynchpin. The
drivers, the mechanics and technicians
of the Audi Sport Team Joest plus the
responsible parties at Audi Sport all
provide her with information, technical
recommendations and strategic
suggestions. And they rely on the
decisions that Gade then makes. The
things the Audi racing designers in
Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm have
concocted are reviewed, adjusted and
retuned again and again until they
are perfect. And they have to improvise
constantly, of course. Rain? Repairs?
Tire damage? Penalty? Race stopped;
safety car on the track? There are
more pitfalls in racing than in any
literary plot.
Despite all of the precision essential
for a technical sport, Gade oers this
surprising self-assessment: “I am
50 percent engineer and 50 percent
psychologist. The drivers trust my
decisions. The same applies to the
other engineers who work with me
and to the mechanics who take care of
the car. You have to be very sensitive
when dealing with people.” Nobody in
racing expects to be asked politely to
get to work, of course. On the contrary:
Everyone knows exactly what has to be
done, even under the constantly high
time pressure and the tremendous
corporate and media expectations that
everyone in this world is subject to.
And yet an element of the unex-
pected remains. With a bit of luck,
perfect performance leads to victory.
Conversely, however, bad luck can
obliterate the work of dozens of people
in a matter of seconds. This special
form of powerlessness must be a
nightmare for engineers. “Each team
prepares as well as possible for a race,”
says Gade. “But our passion for racing
and the Audi brand is the deciding
factor for our continuous success.” «
“Our passion for racing and the Audi brand is the deciding factor
for our continuous success.”
Leena Gade on the decisive element for Audi’s racing triumphs
Electrifying moments: The video
shows the highlights of the 24
Hours of Le Mans.
Fuel consumption and emission figures at the end of the Annual Report
P H O T O S | A U D I AG
My Perfection
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