Re: Happy Holidays from Audi!

[Dan Simoes <dans>]

> My disappointment is with Rod Bymaster, the director of Audi racing.
> The man does not even have the decency to return my phone calls or my
> e-mails.
> We can guarantee a certain amount of publicity for Audi through this
> series.  I would hate to state in an interview our disappointment with
> Audi for their apathy about their product. I get e-mails from all over
> the country from Audi owners on internet lists that are waiting to see
> how we do in the series and wishing us well.

Don,

First off, best wishes to you and your efforts.
Here are my comments, somewhat tongue-in-cheek:

- Audi doesn't give a rat's ass about you or your car.  Racing and Audis do 
not go hand in hand at this time in the marketing continuum.  Yes, there is
LeMans, but that's about money, not racing.

- Audi is selling all the cars they can make, including S4s, so your success
would have to be phenomenal before they would notice.  This despite their
acknowledgement of their rich racing history at this year's Monterrey Historics.

- Rod is the gentleman in charge of club relations, but I'm not sure about
racing.  I have spoken with him in the past, and frankly, neither he nor
anyone else, to this day, have adequately replied to my inquiries about
this mailing list and web site.  Keep trying him, you may get lucky.

- The parts you seek are sold by Audi Sport in Germany, but they only sell to
racing teams.  Catch22, huh?  Your best bet is to maybe call up the
Sprongl brothers in Canada and ask how they get stuff, along with a call to
Jo Hoppen in Florida.  You might also try Bruno Kreibech in Queens, NY.

Finally, don't get frustrated to the point of giving up.  I'm not sure what
area you hail from, but if you can get the car (and have any interest in) 
this year's Mount Washington Hillclimb or Pikes Peak (if they run it),
I can guarantee a strong showing of enthusiastic "audifans" to cheer you
on.

I wish I had some better info to pass on, but as I mentioned, I myself have
the damndest time trying to get Audi to realize we exist...

Regards,

| Dan |
-- 
Dan Simoes
dans@audifans.com/dans@vwfans.com
www.audifans.com/www.vwfans.com