Audi 2013 Annual Report Download - page 102

a care in the world. Filipe has meanwhile discovered the
RS 7 Sportback’s outstanding setup and is impressed with the
self-locking center dierential, which distributes the
power of the 412 kW (560 hp) biturbo V8 to each individual
wheel as appropriate when cornering. All I notice is that
our cornering speed is gradually increasing, and that Filipe
wishes he had something like this in his race car.
By the time the first crags of the Dolomites rise up out of the
morning fog, my driver is completely ecstatic and my stomach
periodically gets the opportunity to recover during photo stops
for Filipe’s travel log.
No sooner had I gotten used to the luxury and, despite all
the sportiness, comfortable setup of the RS 7 Sportback
than it was time for the next challenge : The Urquattro awaits
us for the afternoon stage. I become more bold and eat
a hearty lunch. After all, I’ll need my strength for the two
particularly spectacular passes – the Passo Falzàrego and the
Grossglockner – and the 250-kilometer leg to Kitzbühel
that lie ahead of us.
This marks the start of the challenging part of the day for Filipe,
and he is looking forward to drifting sideways through the
upcoming switchbacks. He says that the view is better that way.
I decide to look at it like this : He knows the car ; I know the
passes in front of us. That should make us an unbeatable team.
Here we go !
The first few kilometers are relaxed. Filipe is a nice guy
and uses the freeway to Innsbruck first of all to test out the
Audi adaptive cruise control system in our Daytona Gray
RS 7 Sportback. He is looking forward to this day. No, he
has never been in this part of Europe and has no idea what
type of roads await him today. I, on the other hand, do,
and therefore am not sure whether his youthful carefree
nature is contagious or just making me nervous. I go with
option one here too, which gives me the opportunity to talk
with him at length about his races as an Audi DTM driver
and his victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona. Or about how he
remembers watching motorsport reports as a child and
admiring Michèle Mouton’s successes in the Urquattro in the
Rally de Portugal.
We easily leave the occasional truck behind on the Brenner
highway and therefore have enough of a time cushion to allow
ourselves a cappuccino in the first Dolomite valley. Immediately
thereafter, the road narrows and the mountain slopes creep
closer. Increasingly, all that is to our right is a steep drop to a
raging torrent, and the curves ahead of us disappear behind
the walls of rock on the left. Filipe switches the navigation
system to the highest zoom level to ensure that he can recognize
any hairpin curves in plenty of time. As the passenger, the
realistic Google Earth™ graphics give you the impression of
watching your own journey from a bird’s eye perspective.
All that’s missing is the real-time display of oncoming trac,
which would allow you to enjoy the winding curves without
PHOTOS : Daniel Wollstein, AUDI AG
Fuel consumption and emission figures at the end of the Annual Report