Münnich’s A3 plan progressing

A year after he first revealed plans to build a pair of Audi A3 Supercars, René Münnich has confirmed that his Münnich Motorsport/All-Inkl.com team is still at work on the project and that he hopes to have the first new car ready to race for the start of the 2012 European Rallycross Championship season.

“It’s a big project because we will build the cars and have everything ourselves in-house. Just doing the drawings has taken a long time and this has also been a very busy year for the team, not just in Rallycross but we now run four GT cars and just to keep all that going during the season takes almost all the time we have,” said Münnich. Progress on the Audi project has been made, however, “The first priority once the Rallycross season is over will be to finish the new Fabia Super1600 car we are building for Mandie August, that is nearly complete and when it is ready we can concentrate on the Audi. I want to race the car next year and I think that should be possible.”

The Audi A3 will carry over the major mechanical components from his Škoda Fabia II Supercar – the engine and Sellholm transmission and, at present, the plan is to continue with a longitudinal car. “I’m not sure that there is such a big advantage from transverse except that you may be able to mount the engine lower in the car. We are working on ways to mount the engine lower in the Audi, the problem is getting the drive for the front wheels under the engine. We have looked at different ideas, including using a chain-drive system so there is no shaft under the engine,” said Münnich who hopes that the A3’s longer (in comparison to his Fabia II) wheelbase will provide a car that is easier to drive, “The A3 is the same size as a Focus. I’ve spent time watching cars on the track and the Focus is much more stable than the shorter cars,” said Münnich who has no firm plan for the second of the A3s beyond what he stated when he first spoke of the new cars at the end of 2010: “We have other drivers in the GT team so I might do something with them and have two cars in some events, or rent one of the cars. It would be ideal to rent one of the cars for the whole season but I think that we have to show we are a winning team first before other drivers are interested to come here.”

The presence of different cars from a manufacturer that is not currently represented in the ERC will be a positive addition to the championship in 2012, as is Münnich’s willingness to run cars on a commercial basis.

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