Pure adrenalin
The Audi driving experience makes a welcome return in 2022.
After another year of restrictions and uncertainty, the Audi driving experience returns to Australian race tracks, with the full 2022 calendar announced.
20 December, 2021
The 2022 Audi driving experience calendar has been announced and is now on sale
Picture this – you’re at one of the country’s premiere motorsport facilities with a line-up of Audi RS models at your disposal. On hand to share their encyclopaedic knowledge of car control with you are some of the finest racing drivers in the country and for that day at least, your sole focus is on getting the most out of the cars and more importantly, the most out of yourself. Welcome to the Audi driving experience (ADE), which is back on Australian race tracks in 2022 and offering perhaps the ultimate antidote to lockdowns and forced home isolation.
Now in its 11th year, the ADE has thrilled, entertained, educated and inspired literally thousands of participants since it was launched as a manufacture-based program back in 2012, and the program’s appeal and popularity has continued to grow over that period, with demand stronger than ever. Indeed, the program’s offerings have also grown over the years and now also includes a range of lifestyle drives as well as the tremendously popular track offerings.
The ADE boasts an impressive fleet of high-performance vehicles – an array of high-performance machinery worth more than $5.5 million, made up of R and RS models ready to be put through their paces at some of the best motorsport facilities around the country.
Each of the programs is overseen by an outstanding team of instructors, all successful racing drivers in their own right and highly effective communicators led by Audi Australia’s Chief Driving Instructor, Steve Pizzati – himself a race driver, engineer and respected motoring expert.
It is the perfect motoring recipe, all delivered with Audi’s customary hospitality and attention to detail – from the warm reception on arriving at the track, to the Audi lounge area, fine food and refreshments throughout the day and the professional yet relaxed feel to the proceedings – the popularity of the ADE comes as little surprise.
The appeal of the ADE to motoring enthusiasts is obvious, but participants come from all backgrounds and age groups, with often vastly different motoring experience, says Pizzati. The programs though have been designed to ensure that regardless of any prior experience each participant comes away at the end of the day with a greater understanding not only of what the cars can do, but also having explored, pushed and honed their own skills.
“It’s not uncommon for customers to come back again and again,” says Pizzati, “with some attracted by the obvious performance elements of the course while others are interested in getting more from their own motoring or sharpening up their own skills behind the wheel.”
Each of the programs is overseen by an outstanding team of instructors, all successful racing drivers in their own right and highly effective communicators
The line-up of vehicles is impressive by any standard, made up of Audi RS and R models depending on the course selected
For many it’s their first time on a race track, while others have considerable experience in motorsport. But the very nature of the programs is such that the only competition is personal, with each participant helped to achieve their own goals and most importantly enjoy themselves in the process.
Of course safety has always been a key ingredient in the ADE programs and this extends to health and safety protocols surrounding personal contact, social distancing and hygiene inline with the latest health advice around COVID-19. Participant numbers, which have always been kept low to ensure the greatest levels of personal coaching, are maintained to ensure maximum safety for participants, and vehicles and surfaces are routinely disinfected to ensure participants’ safety.
This also equates to even more time behind the wheel of what can only be described as a dream line-up by any standard.
Participants get to experience the likes of the RS 5 models, RS 6 Avant and the RS Q8, as well as the RS 3 models, TT RS and of course the R8 supercar. These are available across two distinct programs – the Audi dynamic driving experience and the Audi Sport Pro driving experience – allowing participants to build on their experience and skills as they work through both programs.
This means that participants in the Audi dynamic driving experience drive nothing but RS cars from the get go, while the Audi Sport Pro focuses even more on the brand’s supercar, the extraordinary Audi R8.
From dynamic exercises on the skid pan to emergency braking and avoidance techniques, to fast one-on-one laps of the track, each ADE program builds skill and confidence in a safe and controlled environment that is at once instructional, entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable.
In fact, calling an ADE program ‘enjoyable’ simply does’t do it justice. It is impossible to convey in writing the feeling of pushing the limits of a high-performance Audi model around one of Australia’s top race tracks, as you follow one of the country’s leading racing drivers, aiming to match their line and braking points. There is likewise no way to describe the elation you feel when it ‘all comes together’ and the skills you’ve worked on throughout the day gel into your best lap or a strong performance on the wet skid pan around a tight gymkhana course.
All this in a relaxed, beautifully executed day that showcases the very best of Audi’s automotive technology and hospitality. It is, as the name suggests, an ‘experience’ – a bucket list experience at that, once experienced, has been known to become quite addictive.
For more information on the 2022 calendar of ADE events and to book your program, visit Audi driving experience.
It is impossible to convey the feeling of pushing the limits of a high-performance Audi model around one of Australia’s top race tracks
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