Racing car or airplane? I, the MSM-Reporter, suddenly widens his eyes in the passenger seat as Markus Winkelhock steers me through the paddock into the pit lane in the 640 hp Audi R8 LMS GT2 using only a joystick. The former Formula 1 and DTM driver and three-time winner of the Nürburgring 24-hour race leaves the steering wheel untouched as we weave our way unerringly past the amazed spectators on the sidelines of the DTM season opener in Oschersleben.
“Crazy technology,” I think to myself, while Winkelhock, with whom I am directly connected by radio, explains with a grin from under his helmet: “You’ve never experienced anything like this before, have you? This is the best way to clearly demonstrate how the steer-by-wire system works.”
Space Drive steering in the DTM innovation taxi
We have known the so-called Space Drive steering, in which there is no mechanical connection between the steering gear and the steering wheel, from racing in the DTM since 2021. Instead, the steering commands are transmitted within milliseconds via cable – i.e. ‘by-wire’ – using electrical impulses. This means that it practically doesn’t matter whether the car is steered using a conventional steering wheel or using the gearshift in the center console.
“But this is a completely different system now than in 2021,” says Winkelhock, who drove into the points with the Space Drive Audi at his DTM start at the Nürburgring and was involved in the development from the start. “Since then, we have collected a lot of new data. We have made huge progress in the software with regard to the feedback between car and driver. Among other things, specific tire models from motorsport have been incorporated into the software.”
V10 power with 640 hp: That’s what Winkel-Bock does!
While our Audi is being fitted with a fresh set of slick tires in the pit lane in front of the garage of the DTM team Abt Sportsline, Winkelhock uses a switch to switch the steering from the joystick to the racing steering wheel. Specifically, this is called a force feedback unit, because as we have learned, in the absence of a traditional steering column behind the steering wheel, it doesn’t matter how the steering signals are transmitted to the wheels. However, for the fast race around the 3.696-kilometer-long course in the Magdeburg Börde, the familiar steering wheel is the most efficient signal transmitter.
I feel this immediately when ‘Winki’ unleashes the 640 horses of the roaring V10 naturally aspirated engine in the rear after exiting the pit lane. Hotelkurve, Hasseröder Kurve and the triple left in the first sector – zack, zack, zack, the immense G-forces through the curves make my insides seem to be rearranged and a broad smile spreads across my face under the helmet reinforced with a HANS system.
Then my personal highlight, the right-left-right chicane: Winkelhock thunders over the kerbs, it rumbles, it bangs, everything vibrates, everything is awesome, what fun! Oh, no steering column? It doesn’t matter, I don’t even notice, that’s how it’s supposed to be. Thumbs up from Winkelhock before he flies down the back straight. More curves, more adrenaline rush, where were we again? Ah yes, the last corner already, heavy braking zone before the start/finish, Captain Winkelhock drops the anchor. Ahoy, the braking power literally pushes me towards the windshield before the 43-year-old accelerates again and starts the next fast lap. That’s what makes Winkel-Bock!
Schaeffler: Innovation on four wheels
Cool feature: The images of my shining eyes from the onboard camera are streamed live to the chic Schaeffler hospitality in the paddock. What I just perceived as an airplane on four wheels is what DTM partner Schaeffler calls an ‘innovation taxi’, which eagerly does laps as part of the supporting program on race weekends and delights celebrities or media representatives in the passenger seat.
That’s not just a slogan, the name says it all: Schaeffler engineers are actually constantly developing the Audi R8 LMS GT2 during test drives on European race tracks during the current season. There is no better test bed for series development than the race track.
The ongoing development is as rapid as the 640 horsepower that the naturally aspirated V10 engine with 5.2 liters of displacement releases from the rear: At the DTM opener in the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, the innovation taxi drove for the first time with a special engine oil from LubriCan, which is 100 percent fossil-free, does not contain any mineral oils and is produced in a CO2-neutral manner. “No adjustments were necessary in the engine area,” Schaeffler systems engineer Christian Gapp, who has motorsport experience and is also the race engineer for the Audi R8 LMS GT2, tells me. “Everything went smoothly in Oschersleben.”
DTM innovation taxi runs on SynFuels
This also applies to the synthetically produced SynFuel fuel, which has been powering the GT2 Audi’s production engine since last year and enables CO2-neutral operation. Gapp: “We simply poured the fuel into the tank and drove off. From the first drive to today, we have not noticed any relevant differences in engine operation.”
As befits a genuine innovation taxi, the next technological innovations are already in the pipeline. This includes a mechatronic rear axle steering system developed by Schaeffler, which is already used in series cars and ensures increased maneuverability and stability through intelligent steering movements on the rear axle.
“As a leading technology company, we have to constantly develop further,” says motorsport enthusiast Matthias Zink, member of the Executive Board for Automotive Technologies at Schaeffler. “The dynamic environment of the DTM offers the perfect platform for this.” And for me, the perfect opportunity to observe a professional racing driver up close!