Haase, Winkelhock Part Ways With Audi Sport

Christopher Haase and Markus Winkelhock have both parted ways with Audi Sport after serving lenghty tenures as a factory driver with the Ingolstadt marque.

The two German drivers, along with Ricardo Feller, were understood to be some of the last drivers remaining on Audi’s payroll after most of its other talent had departed amidst the brand’s shuttering of its customer racing activities.

While Feller has since been confirmed to have joined Porsche, Audi announced that Haase and Winkelhock, two of its longest-tenured drivers, have also parted ways with the company.

Winkelhock looks back on a 17-year tenure with Audi, while Haase signed on in 2011 and served as factory driver for 14 years.

The two drivers secured some of their greatest career triumphs together, teaming up to win the Nürburgring 24 twice in 2012 and 2014, the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa in 2017 and the Indianapolis 8 Hour in 2021.

Earlier this year, Haase and Winkelhock spearheaded the Eastalent Racing lineup that won the postponed edition of the Michelin 24H Dubai.

Separately, Haase took a Blancpain Endurance Series title with Team WRT in 2012, while Winkelhock won the Nürburgring 24 for a third time in 2017 and went on to be crowned Intercontinental GT Challenge drivers’ champion in the same year.

The 44-year-old also competed as a regular in DTM for four seasons with the likes of ABT Sportsline and Team Rosberg.