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Audi Sport mourns the death of its former Head of Sport Walter Treser, who passed away in November at the age of 81. The engineer had been project manager for the quattro permanent four-wheel drive for road cars at Audi since 1977. In 1981, as successor to Jürgen Stockmar, the Odenwald-born engineer was responsible for the brand’s first major motorsport program in the World Rally Championship. Walter Treser lured the established Finnish rally professional Hannu Mikkola to Audi, who became the brand’s first world champion in 1983. The manager also scored a coup by signing Michèle Mouton: the Frenchwoman was the first and only woman to celebrate overall victories in the World Rally Championship, finishing runner-up in 1982 standings. “Under the leadership of Walter Treser, Audi Sport began to develop into the force that still shapes international motorsport today,” says Julius Seebach, Managing Director of Audi Sport GmbH and responsible for motorsport at Audi. “He was instrumental in the development of quattro all-wheel drive and the first major motorsport successes of this technology. This has changed the brand’s image for good.”