The livery pays homage to the mighty Audi Group B rally cars of the past, but the car itself is brand new. This Audi A1 quattro is the baby of Mattias Ekström and his newly formed EKS JC team, a joint operation produced in co-operation with Rally Technic in South Africa, built using the Rally2 kit to full FIA standards. Once tested and tuned, the car will be eligible to enter in both national and international rally competitions, with Ekström saying that the car will ultimately be made available to rent or even purchase by interested parties. 

The 1.6-litre turbo engine in the A1 quattro develops 196kW and runs a five-speed sequential transmission. Power goes down to the road surface via Audi quattro permanent all-wheel drive and the combination in this compact package is a formidable one to say the least.

Former FIA Junior WRC champion Emil Bergkvist, has been enlisted as the team’s development driver, but while the testing was getting underway on the ice, Ekström, decided to call on an old friend and hero, another Audi rally ace, Stig Blomqvist to come and put the new car through its paces.

Of course Mattias previously campaigned the Audi S1 quattro in the World RX Championship as well as his illustrious career in DTM – often driving in both categories at the same time, competing in the DTM and then jumping behind the wheel of the S1 quattro to attack an RX round.

The Stiq is an international rally hero who drove his Audi to five victories in the 1984 world Rally Championship (WRC) to claim the World Driver’s crown and give Audi its second brand championship in the WRC.

Although decades have passed since Audi dominated world rally with the original quattro cars, the sight of this new Audi A1 quattro ready to tackle the world’s rally circuits brings back a host of memories and looks set to create many of its own in the right hands.