MUNICH: German car giant Volkswagen has announced that Fritz Enzinger, currently head of LMP1 (Le Mans Prototype) at Porsche, will take over the role of head of group motorsport, replacing Wolfgang Dürheimer.
In his new function, effective January 31, Enzinger (61) will be responsible for the motorsports orientation and coordination of the Group brands.
As head of Group Motorsport, Enzinger reports directly to the CEO of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, Matthias Müller. Enzinger also retains his present function with Porsche, where he developed the Porsche LMP1 team as a department of Porsche AG from November 2011 onwards. With its innovative prototype, Porsche recorded three overall victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 2015 to 2017 as well as taking three World Endurance Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championships.
Enzinger’s future tasks will include assessing the current portfolio of works commitments and customers’ sports programs in all disciplines and their long-term orientation. For this purpose, he will cooperate closely with the heads of motorsport of the various brands. In addition, he will bundle the interests of the Volkswagen Group and its brands and represent them towards the international sports authorities. His responsibilities will also include organizing the use of highly efficient internal combustion engines, hybrid solutions and pure electric powertrains in motorsports. The objective will be to align the programs in such a way that they reflect the individual positioning of the Group brands and allow each brand to demonstrate its individual strengths.
Matthias Müller emphasizes: “I look forward to further successes of our brands in motorsports and wish Fritz Enzinger every success in his new, additional role. At the same time, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Wolfgang Dürheimer, who had held the position of Head of Group Motorsport since February 2011 and who pursued the implementation of our strategy in the motorsports programs of the brands consistently and very successfully.”
Enzinger says: “Our activities in the World Endurance Championship were a good example of the way in which Group brands can spur each other on to peak performance and innovations when competing in the same series. Despite this intentionally competitive situation, there must be a central authority within the Group who can review and assess the commitments of all brands, identify synergies and safeguard the know-how which has been developed for the Group.”
VW’s various brands, which includes Porsche, Lamborghini, Audi, Bentley and Seat, compete in a number of sports car categories including WEC and Blancpain as well as Rallycross, but have stayed off Formula 1.
Whilst VW and its various brands have repeatedly rejected joining the F1 grid, it needs noting that the Volkswagen Group has been involved in shaping new F1 engine regulations post-2020 and is therefore aware of future plans. Whilst at Porsche, Enzinger himself has overseen the development of a “high-performance combustion engine” which meets the current F1 power unit requirements.
Therefore if VW does enter the F1 arena post-2020, what it will not need to come up to speed with is technical capability.
