Audi Believes Gasoline Performance Cars Will Be Relegated To Racetracks

The head of Audi Sport customer racing, Chrys Reinke, believes that ICE (internal combustion engines) powered performance cars will be relegated to racetracks in the future.

Speaking with Car Sales, Reinke who works with Audi’s GT2, GT3, GT4, and TCR customer racing programs, suggested that fossil-fueled vehicles will soon be used purely for leisure and excitement, much like sailboats.

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“I think when we talk about moving people… we used to take goods across the Atlantic with sailboats – and now we do it with container boats, but it doesn’t mean that there’s no sailing anymore. There are actually more sailboats than ever – now for leisure and excitement,” he said. “This is a similar path we will take with motor racing. Driving used to be [about] the possibility of getting from A to B – to transfer us, to commute. But I believe in the future, the commute probably will be… electric; most likely… autonomous driving.”

We’ve got no doubt that enthusiasts will continue to drive ICE-powered vehicles on public roads for decades to come unless regulations eventually ban them completely. However, Reinke certainly has a point.

According to him, car enthusiasts will ultimately use all-electric and autonomous vehicles during weekdays for their necessary commutes and then drive a more traditional and involving car on the weekends. This isn’t an entirely foreign concept as heaps of rev-heads have performance cars dedicated to weekend use and drive more efficient vehicles during the week. The only difference moving forward, at least according to Reinke, is that these weekend cars may be restricted to racetracks and rally roads.